I  THE  TIME  OF  jESUS 


^    ■    :  ■      :  '•:  :.:'^T  ■  ;:^T' 

SEIDEL 


DS  122   .S44  1885 

Seidel,  Martin. 

In  the  time  of  Jesus 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS : 


HISTORICAL  PICTURES 

BY 

MARTIN^  SEIDEL,  D.D. 


ANSON"   D.    F.    RANDOLPH    &  CO., 
900,  Broadway. 


PREFACE. 


A  CLEAR  understanding  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures 
seems  hardly  possible  without  a  knowledge  of  the  circum- 
stances and  conditions  of  the  times  in  which  Jesus  and 
his  Apostles  lived.  The  many  excellent  works,  called 
Histories  of  New  Testament  Times — such  as  those  of 
Schneckenburger,  Schuerer,  Hausrath,  and  others,  to  say 
nothing  of  other  books  bearing  on  the  subject — are  of 
great  assistance  for  the  attainment  of  that  knowledge. 

While,  however,  the  first-named  is  in  some  respects 
superseded ;  the  second,  most  elaborate  and  comprehen- 
sive ;  and  the  last,  adapted  chiefly  for  theologians,  this 
little  work  attempts  for  the  first  time  to  present  a  plain 
delineation  of  the  time  of  Jesus,  founded  on  known  and 
apposite  facts,  and  comprised  within  brief  limits. 

To  whom  will  this  concise  picture  be  of  use  ?  It  will 
certainly  not  render  superfluous  the  reading  of  other  and 
!  larger  works  on  the  same  subject ;  rather,  will  it  prepare 
the  way  for  them,  and,  it  is  hoped,  do  some  little  also  on 
its  own  part,  in  contributing  to  a  better  understanding  in 
our  day  of  that  world  in  which  Our  Lord  lived. 


ii  PREFACE. 

The  Author  hopes  that  the  book  may  be  especially 
useful  to  students  of  theology,  in  serving  as  an  introduc- 
tion to  a  more  complete  and  exhaustive  investigation  of 
the  subject ;  also  to  his  brethren  in  the  sacred  office,  in 
presenting  a  brief  comprehensive  survey  of  the  conditions 
and  relations  of  those  times ;  and,  further,  to  teachers  in 
schools,  as  a  hand-book  of  Bible  study.  He  trusts,  too, 
that  it  will  be  acceptable  to  many  Christian  readers,  in 
helping  them  to  an  insight  into  the  state  of  the  world  in 
the  days  of  the  Master,  and  increasing  the  interest  and 
love  with  which  they  read  the  records  of  his  life. 

The  book  has  certainly  not  been  written  without  love 
for  the  subject.  May  it  meet  with  the  same  interest  on 
the  part  of  the  reader. 

That  it  may  furnish  some  true  stones  for  the  upbuilding 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  is  the  heartfelt  prayer  of  the 
Author, 

MARTIN  SEIDEL. 


To  the  above  brief  preface  I  need  only  add  one  or  two 
words  as  the  English  translator. 

My  earnest  endeavour  has  been  simply  to  make  the 
able  and  erudite  author  say  in  English  what  he  says  in 
German,  only  adding  a  word  or  two  of  my  own  in  a  very 


PREFACE.  iii 

few  instances,  when  it  seemed  absolutely  necessary  for 
English  readers. 

I  have  taken  great  pains  to  avoid  even  slight  errors,  and 
to  make  the  book  in  its  English  form  an  accurate  and 
reliable  one. 

This  has,  however,  been  to  me  a  labour  full  of  the 
deepest  and  most  sacred  interest ;  and  if,  as  I  hope,  the 
book  only  awakens  the  same  feehng  in  its  readers,  I  shall 
be  content. 

February,  1885.  W.  E.  M. 


CONTENTS. 


Page. 

Introduction    1 

PART  I. 

THE  HEATHEN  WORLD. 

I.  The  Union  OF  Peoples  IX  THE  Roman  Empire   ...  10 

II.  Religious  Life  in  the  Heathen  World    17 

III.  The  State  of  Morals  AMONG  THE  Gentiles      ...  32 

PART  II. 

THE  JEWISH  WORLD. 

I.  The  Land  and  the  People  of  Israel  ... 
IL  The  Political  Government  of  Palestine 

III.  The  Sanhedrin  AND  THE  High  Priests  ... 

IV.  The  Scribes   

V.  Religious  Life  among  the  Jews   

VI.  Parties  among  the  Jews   

VII.  The  Messianic  Hope  

VIII.  Judaism  in  the  Dispersion  

APPENDIX. 

I.  Notes    i 

II.  Chronological  Table   x 

III.  Index    xv 


68 
91 
98 
112 
128 
147 
163 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

The  following  pages  are  intended  to  present  a  view  of 
the  actual  state  of  the  world  in  the  time  of  Jesus.  It  is 
always  interesting  to  realize  to  our  own  minds  the  con- 
dition of  things  in  the  days  of  great  statesmen,  poets, 
and  philosophers  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  Not  only 
does  it  bring  more  clearly  into  view  the  mental  and  moral 
characteristics — the  thoughts,  dispositions,  and  actions  of 
the  great  men  themselves,  but  it  throws  light  also  on 
many  of  the  circumstances  and  ideas  of  our  own  day. 

But  how  much  more  interest  must  it  awaken  to  obtain 
some  clear  views  of  the  state  of  affairs  in  His  day  whose 
appearance  marks  the  turning  point  in  the  whole  history 
of  the  world,  and  divides  the  New  World  from  the  Old — 
He  who  exercised  the  greatest  possible  influence,  not  only 
on  the  course  of  external  events,  but  also  on  the  moral 
and  spiritual  life  of  humanity — yea.  He  who  by  His  word 
and  life,  His  death  and  resurrection,  brought  to  the  world 
that  which  millions  of  our  race  in  all  previous  ages  had 
longed  for — the  redemption  of  the  soul  ? 

B 


2 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


But,  it  may  be  said,  are  not  the  descriptions  and 
narratives  of  the  New  Testament  sufficient  to  enable  us 
to  form  a  tolerably  complete  picture  of  the  external 
circumstances  and  conditions  of  the  life  of  Jesus  ? 
Undoubtedly  all  that,  for  our  salvation,  it  is  indis- 
pensably necessary  for  us  to  know,  is  therein  made 
evident  to  the  simplest  mind.  We  must  remember,  how- 
ever, that  nearly  two  thousand  years  separate  our  time 
from  that  in  which  the  occurrences  narrated  in  the  New 
Testament  took  place ;  also  that  not  only  the  political 
and  social  conditions  of  the  period,  but  the  circumstances 
of  individuals,  were  very  different  from  those  of  our  own 
day  ;  and  then  it  will  be  evident  that  without  a  searching 
explication  of  the  facts,  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  under- 
stand the  state  of  things  in  that  world  in  which  Jesus 
lived. 

Moreover,  that  such  knowledge  is  an  essential  help  to 
a  more  thorough  understanding  of  the  New  Testament 
Scriptures  is  beyond  doubt.  It  is  true  that  Biblical  com- 
mentators, in  explaining  the  Scriptures  verse  by  verse, 
give  the  requisite  illustrations,  drawn  from  the  facts  and 
circumstances  of  the  times  in  which  they  were  written ; 
but  these  are  often  necessarily  very  brief  and  scanty,  and 
are  scattered  here  and  there  in  bulky  volumes.  This 
little  book,  on  the  contrary — following  the  example  of 
larger  works  on  the  same  subject — attempts  to  bring 
before  the  mind  the  time  of  Jesus  in  its  continuity  and 
completeness ;  and  thereby  to  throw  a  clear  light  on 
many  passages  of  the  New  Testament  bearing  on  the 
circumstances  of  the  period.  Thus  it  will  do  its  part  it  is 
hoped  in  promoting  Scriptural  knowledge. 


INTRODUCTORY. 


While  however  the  following  delineations  seek  to 
increase  our  knowledge  of  New  Testament  times,  they 
may  also  serve  to  occupy  us  more  with  the  Scrii:>tures 
themselves,  and  thus  to  awaken  a  constantly  growing 
interest  in  the  Sacred  Records,  an  interest  which  in  these 
days  of  increasing  devotion  to  material  things  is  in  danger 
of  waning. 

And  further ;  if  we  take  a  thoughtful  survey  of  the 
state  of  the  world  when  Jesus  came,  as  it  is  here  de- 
picted, we  cannot  help  seeing  how  both  in  Judaism  and 
heathenism  "  the  fulness  of  the  time  "  was  come.  The 
state  of  each  of  them  makes  it  evident  that  the  mission  of 
the  ancient  peoples  was  accomplished ;  that  a  desire  and 
longing  for  a  new  and  better  state  of  things  was  thrilling 
all  hearts  j  and  that  expectation  was  directed  to  the 
appearance  of  a  Saviour  in  the  east  who  should  give 
peace  to  peace-seeking  souls.  Every  one  who  considers 
attentively  the  signs  of  that  time  will  be  involuntarily  led 
to  Him  who  has  indeed  brought  all  that  humanity  longed 
for ;  and  thus  our  unvarnished  sketch  will  unconsciously 
become  an  eloquent  vindication  of  Christianity. 

But  of  course  we  must  not  understand  the  expression, 
"  the  time  of  Jesus,"  in  too  narrow  a  sense,  as  if  we  had 
only  to  bring  before  the  mind  what  can  be  found  within 
the  few  years  of  his  earthly  life.  The  slender  reports 
which  we  possess  of  that  period  would  forbid  such  a  limi- 
tation of  our  view  ;  and  also  the  consideration  that  then 
we  should  only  be  able  to  ascertain  isolated  facts  without 
regard  to  their  origin  and  effect,  thus  making  our  picture 
superficial  and  obscure.  Rather  must  we  look  not  only 
to  the  time  of  Christ's  actual  life,  but  to  that  immediately 


4 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


preceding  and  following  it,  if  our  plain  description  is  to 
be  satisfactory.  And,  for  the  same  reason,  it  seems  to  us 
to  be  necessary  not  only  to  paint  the  condition  of  the 
country  and  the  people  in  whose  midst  Jesus  lived,  but — 
since  he  is  not  the  representative  of  any  nation  or  race, 
but  the  head  of  all  mankind — to  describe  the  actual  state 
of  the  world  as  it  was  then  known,  and  as  it  stands  related 
with  the  New  Testament  history.  We  shall  begin  with 
some  account  of  the  vast  Roman  empire  which  at  that 
time  embraced  almost  the  entire  circle  of  the  earth,  and 
then  proceed  to  the  special  consideration  of  the  state  of 
the  Jewish  people  of  whom  our  Lord  was  born.  Thus  it 
will  be  apparent  to  all  that  to  write  a  "  Life  of  Jesus  "  is 
not  our  object ;  that  is  a  subject  which  must  be  left  for 
separate  and  special  treatment. 

If  it  is  asked  why  we  have  chosen  for  our  title  "  the  time 
of  Jesus,"  rather  than  "  of  Christ,"  the  answer  is  that  we 
have  chiefly  to  do  with  a  historical  and  not  a  doctrinal 
personage ;  although  it  is  our  hope  that  the  reader  will 
hold  fast  to  the  faith,  and  be  strengthened  in  it,  that 
Jesus  is  the  Saviour  of  the  World. 

But,  it  may  be  said,  is  the  historical  character  of 
Christ's  Hfe  conceded  ?  In  answer  to  this  question,  it  is 
sufficient  to  say  here  that  sceptical  critics,  like  Strauss  and 
others  equally  able  and  learned,  have  not  succeeded  in 
explaining  away  as  myth  and  legend  his  historical 
existence ;  that  in  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  of  the 
New  Testament — although  not  in  others  of  Apocryphal 
character,  which  contain  much  that  is  fabulous  and 
legendary — we  have  authentic  narratives  from  the  pens  of 
those  who  stood  nearest  to  him,  derived  either  from  their 


INTRODUCTORY. 


5 


own  personal  observations  or  from  the  conscientious  use 
of  already  existing  records  written  by  eye-witnesses 
(Luke  i.  I — 4) ;  that  the  existence  and  triumph  of  the 
Christian  religion  is  a  living  and  satisfying  proof,  since 
without  an  author  and  founder  it  would  be  incomprehen- 
sible ;  and,  that  Jewish  and  Pagan  writers  of  the  first 
Christian  century,  or  only  a  little  later,  are  by  no  means 
silent  about  the  Christian  Church  and  her  founder,  it 
being  evident  from  the  writings  of  Tacitus,^  Suetonius,^ 
Pliny,^  and  others  that  the  Christian  party "  and  its 
originator  were,  at  the  end  of  the  first  century,  well 
known  in  the  heathen  parts  of  the  Roman  empire ; 
while  as  regards  Judaism,  although  the  dogmatist  Philo* 
nowhere  expresses  his  mind  about  Jesus,  Josephus^  on 
the  other  hand,  in  his  Jewish  antiquities,  writes  explicitly 
of  his  life  and  w^ork  and  death.^ 

Another  preliminary  question  is,  how  are  we  to  ascer- 
tain the  dates  of  the  period  at  which  Jesus  lived,  and 
which  we  have  to  bring  before  the  reader's  mind  ?  Luke 
states  that  Jesus  was  born  in  the  time  of  Caesar  Augustus 
Octavianus  (Luke  ii.  i) ;  Matthew  tells  us  that  it  was 
"in  the  days  of  Herod  the  Great"  (Matt.  ii.  i) ;  and 
Josephus  says  that  Jesus  was  put  to  death  under  Pontius 
Pilate.''  If  we  enquire  more  closely  after  the  date  of 
the  birth  of  Jesus,  we  shall  first  of  all  have  to  give  up  the 
chronology  of  Abbot  Dionysius  Exiguus,  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, which  is  still  followed  in  our  calendar,  and  according 
to  which  Jesus  was  born  in  the  seven  hundred  and  fifty- 
fourth  year  from  the  foundation  of  the  city  of  Rome ; 
since  all  research  has  shown  that  the  date  must  be  put 
back  some  few  years  before  754. 


6 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


The  account  of  the  'taxing'  under  Cyrenius,  or 
Quirinius,^  affords  no  assistance  in  determining  the 
required  date,  because  of  the  irreconcilable  difference 
between  the  data  of  '  profane '  authors  and  the  statement 
of  the  Evangelist  on  the  subject.  Various  considerations 
point  to  the  conclusion  that  this  'taxing'  did  not  take 
place  till  about  the  year  6-7  of  our  chronology,  that  is  at 
the  time  when  Augustus,  after  the  deposition  of  Archelaus, 
had  sent  Coponius  to  be  procurator  in  Judea,  and  Sulpi- 
cius  Quirinus  to  be  the  new  governor  of  Syria.^ 

Some  have  thought  that  the  year  of  the  birth  of  Jesus 
might  be  calculated  from  the  narrative  of  the  appearance 
of  the  'star'  to  the  Magi^"  with  a  greater  approach  to 
certainty  than  from  the  account  of  the  'taxing.'  It  is 
however  much  to  be  regretted  that  the  exact  nature  of  the 
phenomenon  is  not  known.  Still,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
some  astronomers  have  undertaken  the  task  of  discover- 
ing what  it  v/as  and  when  it  appeared.  The  great  Kepler 
was  of  opinion  that  it  is  to  be  identified  with  a  conjunc- 
tion of  Jupiter  and  Saturn,  which  took  place  in  the  year 
747  (a.u.c. — that  is,  from  the  foundation  of  the  city  of 
Rome) ;  and  as  the  narrative  of  the  massacre  of  the 
children  in  Bethlehem  plainly  implies  that  the  Magi,  who 
must  have  arrived  in  Jerusalem  soon  after  the  birth  of 
Jesus,  had  first  seen  the  "  star "  some  time  before  when 
they  were  in  their  own  country,  it  is  thought  probable  that 
the  required  date  may  be  the  year  748  a.u.c.  And  this 
is  rendered  the  more  probable  by  the  fact  that  the  acces- 
sion of  Mars  to  the  planetary  conjunction,  which  accord- 
ing to  Kepler,  took  place  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  must 
have  aroused  the  greatest  attention  and  interest  among 


INTRODUCTORY. 


7 


the  sages  of  the  east.  Others  hold  that  the  "  star  "  was  a 
comet,  which  according  to  Chinese  astronomical  tables, 
was  visible  for  more  than  two  months  in  the  year  750,  and 
they  consider  that  the  year  in  which  Jesus  was  born." 

With  a  closer  approach  to  accuracy  we  can  determine 
the  period  sought  for  by  a  reference  to  several  important 
statements  in  the  New  Testament.  Both  Matthew  (ch.  ii.  i) 
and  Luke  (i.  5)  point  out  that  Jesus  was  born  before  the 
death  of  Herod  the  Great.  This  took  place  in  the  year 
750  (that  is,  4  B.C.  of  our  chronology)  and  between  the 
occurrence  of  an  eclipse  of  the  moon,^^  which,  accord- 
ing to  astronomical  calculation  was  on  the  12 -13th  of 
March,  and  the  feast  of  the  passover  of  that  year^' — 
thus  about  the  end  of  March  or  the  beginning  of  April. 
Now  since  Herod  lived  to  see  the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  died 
soon  afterwards,  it  may  have  taken  place  a  little  before  or 
after  the  beginning  of  the  year  750. 

And  further;  Luke  tells  us  (ch.  iii.  i)  that  John  the 
Baptist  entered  on  his  public  work  in  the  fifteenth  year  of 
the  reign  of  Tiberius  and  under  the  procurator  Pontius 
Pilate.  Augustus  died  on  the  19th  of  August,  767,  and 
the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius,  his  successor, 
would  thus  be  from  about  the  end  of  August,  781,  to  the 
same  period  in  782.  But  Tiberius  was  co-regent  during 
the  last  two  years  of  the  hfe  of  Augustus,^*  that  is  from  765 
to  767,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  St.  Luke  may  have 
reckoned  the  fifteenth  year  of  his  reign  from  the  com- 
mencement of  his  regency.  If  so,  the  fifteenth  year  would 
be  779-80.  In  that  year  Jesus  was  baptized  and  entered 
upon  his  public  work.  He  was  then  (Luke  iii.  23)  thirty 
years  old,  and  the  year  of  his  birth  would  thus  be  750. 

Again,  on  the  occasion  of  his  purifying  the  temple, 


8 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


which  occurred  at  the  first  passover  after  his  baptism, 
Jesus  was  told  that  the  temple  had  been  forty-six  years  in 
building  (John  ii.  20).  Now  we  know  that  Herod  had 
begun  to  build  it  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign.** 
He  came  to  the  throne  in  the  year  717,  and  thus  the 
eighteenth  year  of  his  reign  would  be  734,  and  the  forty- 
sixth  of  the  temple  building  780.  As  Jesus  was  thirty 
years  old  in  the  latter  year  (Luke  iii.  23)  this  would  again 
give  750  as  the  year  of  his  birth. 

Another  calculation  is  founded  on  the  statement  that 
Zacharias,  the  father  of  John  the  Baptist,  was  of  the 
order  of  priests  called  "Abia."^^  This  was  the  eighth  of 
the  twenty-four  classes,  or  'courses,'  of  priests  who  per- 
formed the  temple  services*'  in  regular  rotation,  each 
class  taking  the  duties  for  one  week  at  a  time.  Now  we 
know  from  the  Talmud*®  that  the  temple  was  destroyed 
A.D.  70,  on  the  9th  of  the  month  Ab  (which  is  about  equal 
to  our  August),  and  that  the  class  of  priests  then  in 
waiting  was  that  called  Jehoiarib.  Reckoning  from  that 
fact  it  is  ascertained  that  the  '  course '  of  Abia  was  on  duty 
in  the  temple  from  the  3rd  to  the  9th  of  October,  748. 
Nine  months  later  John  was  born,  and  as  Jesus  was  six 
months  younger  (Luke  i.  26)  this  gives  the  end  of  the  year 
749  or  the  beginning  of  750  as  the  time  of  his  birth,  that 
is,  four  years  before  what  we  have  received  as  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Christian  era.*^  With  this  comparatively 
close  definition  of  the  period  we  must  be  content. 

With  regard  to  the  date  of  the  day  on  which  Jesus 
was  born,  our  knowledge  is  much  less  certain.  The 
Eastern  Church  celebrates  January  the  6th  (our  Epiphany) 
as  Christmas  day,  but  this  day — it  is  thought — was 
chosen  from  a  desire  to  estabhsh  a  parallel  between 


INTRODUCTORY. 


9 


the  birth  of  the  first  Adam  on  the  sixth  day  of  the  great 
week  of  creation  and  the  birth  of  Jesus  on  the  same  day  of 
the  first  week  of  the  Christian  era.  The  West,  on  the  other 
hand,  since  the  time  of  the  Romish  bishop  Liberius  in 
the  fourth  century,  observes  the  25th  of  December  as  the 
day  of  the  birth  of  Jesus.  But  this  is  based  on  the 
reckoning  of  nine  months  from  the  25th  of  March,  which 
is  assumed  without  proof  to  be  the  day  of  the  Annuncia- 
tion to  the  Virgin  ^Mary.  It  is  also  probable  that  the 
observance  of  Christmas  at  this  season  of  the  year  was  at 
first  connected  with  the  Roman  festival  of  Saturn,  and 
that  by  degrees  the  heathen  festival  was  overcome  and 
transformed  into  the  Christian  one.  It  is  not  possible  to 
say  anything  more  definite  as  to  the  day  of  Christ's  birth, 
especially  when  we  remember  that  other  days  than  those 
named  have  been  fixed  upon,  almost  every  day  in  the 
year  indeed. 

Finally,  as  regards  the  time  when  Jesus  died,  if  we 
keep  in  view  the  fact  that  he  was  thirty  years  of  age 
when  he  began  his  public  work,  and  that  in  that 
ministry  we  can  count,  according  to  the  Evangelist  John 
(John  ii.  13,  vi.  4,  xiii.  i),  three  passover  festivals,  at  the 
last  of  which  he  was  crucified,  we  may  assume  that  he 
only  lived  to  be  about  thirty-three  years  old.  But  here 
also  opinions  vary,  and  absolute  accuracy  cannot  be 
attained.  But  the  exact  determination  of  dates  is  not 
necessary  for  our  purpose,  since  we  know  with  approxi- 
mate certainty  at  what  time  and  in  what  years  Jesus  lived. 

"What  image  may  we  form  of  that  time  ?  What  was 
the  aspect  of  affairs  in  heathendom  and  Judaism — in  the 
Roman  empire  generally,  and  in  Palestine  ? 


10 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


PART  FIRST. 


The  Heathen  World. 
I. 

The  Union  of  Peoples  in  the  Roman  Empire. 

The  statement  by  St.  Luke  that  "  there  went  out  a  decree 
from  Caesar  Augustus  that  all  the  world  should  be  taxed  " 
leads  us  at  once  into  the  midst  of  that  universal  empire, 
the  centre  of  which  was  in  Rome. 

The  old  world  had  decayed.  The  great  kingdoms  of 
the  east — Assyrian,  Babylonian,  Persian,  Egyptian — all 
had  passed  away.  True  it  is,  Alexander  the  Macedonian 
had  endeavoured  to  realize  his  idea  of  a  world-wide 
empire  that  should  unite  the  whole  East  with  Greece,  but 
his  vast  dominion  had  broken  up  into  separate  kingdoms 
under  his  successors,  and  had  finally  fallen  to  the  Roman 
empire. 

Rome  ruled  over  almost  all  the  known  world,  and  with 
justice  has  it  been  called"*^  "the  aggregating  power  of 
antiquity,  the  centre  in  which  all  the  threads  of  ancient 
life  were  gathered  together."  "The  fusion  of  ail  existing 
national  elements,  and  the  recasting  of  them  into  one 


THE  UNION  OF  PEOPLES. 


11 


form  that  should  exhibit  all  the  life  that  had  been  so  far 
developed — that  was  the  mission  and  the  work  of  Rome 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  She  stands  before  us  as  the 
vessel  into  which  all  the  elements  of  previous  stages  of 
life  were  poured  in  order,  as  far  as  was  possible  to  the 
spirit  of  antiquity,  to  form  humanity  into  one  body." 
Her  dominion  covered  almost  the  entire  arena  of  ancient 
history.  The  Roman  eagles  were  planted  on  the  banks 
of  the  Euphrates  in  the  east ;  Egypt,  and  the  whole 
northern  coast  of  Africa  obeyed  them  on  the  south  ;  and 
from  the  pillars  of  Hercules  on  the  southern  border  of 
Spain  to  the  German  provinces  in  the  north,  all  the  peo- 
ples were  subject  to  Rome. 

The  empire  was  now  at  the  height  of  its  power.  The 
battle  of  Actium  (31  B.C.)  had  given  an  emperor,  and 
thus  an  ideal  centre  of  unity,  to  the  powerful  empire 
which  embraced  the  whole  civilized  world.  It  was  how- 
ever, among  other  causes,  the  long  peace  which  prevailed 
under  Octavius  that  brought  the  small  detached  nations 
nearer  to  each  other  in  the  politically  united  empire.  The 
Romans,  the  people  of  action,  of  valour,  of  war,  and 
of  statesman-like  wisdom,  now  sought  their  glory  not  so 
much  in  the  winning  of  battles  as  in  the  completion  of 
the  empire  ;  more  in  organization  than  in  conquest,  and 
more  in  building  up  than  in  destruction.  For  commerce 
in  particular  very  great  things  were  done  by  them.  They 
made  roads  and.  built  bridges  which  linked  the  countries 
together ;  and  erected  walls  and  castles  to  protect  the 
work  accomplished.  Thus  well-made  highways  extended 
through  the  whole  empire ;  posts  at  regular  intervals 
brought  news  from  the  provinces  ;  and  at  definite  dis- 


12 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


tances  travellers  found  inns  or  stage-buildings  where  horses 
were  changed  and  in  which  rest  and  refreshment  could 
be  had.  One  great  road  ran  from  Gades  in  Spain  through 
France  into  Italy ;  from  thence,  to  say  nothing  of  water- 
ways, there  were  roads  into  Greece  which  were  carried  on 
beyond  the  Mediterranean  sea  and  into  Asia.  In  the 
provinces  of  Egypt  and  the  countries  of  the  Danube  there 
were  also  great  highways.  The  imperial  troops  could 
advance  rapidly  over  these  roads  ;  the  messengers  could 
convey  their  despatches  with  great  expedition  to  Rome, 
or  from  thence  into  the  provinces  ;  and  the  people  who 
were  travelling  for  pleasure  could  reach  their  destination 
with  proportionate  ease  and  comfort.  At  the  same  time, 
by  reason  of  the  security  which  was  more  and  more 
attained,  there  arose,  as  never  before,  an  active  commerce 
by  land  and  water  between  the  now  united  peoples.  All 
nationalities  were  brought  into  acquaintance  and  commu- 
nication with  each  other  in  the  one  empire,  and  little 
territories  were  no  longer  divided  by  strictly  guarded 
frontiers.  And  thus  not  only  material  products,  the  good 
things  of  the  external  life,  but  the  higher  treasures  of  the 
mind  also  were  now  distributed  and  became  the  common 
good  of  the  many.  For  the  same  reason  was  it  possible 
for  the  preachers  of  the  gospel  to  journey  through  the 
countries  with  comparative  ease  and  rapidity,  and  to 
spread  abroad  the  message  of  Christ. 

And  if,  especially  in  the  east  of  the  empire,  some 
countries  had  still  the  semblance  of  independence — if 
their  princes  stood  in  the  relation  of  so-called  alliance 
with  Rome — and  if,  moreover,  particular  colonies  pos- 
sessed certain  privileges — all  were  at  the  same  time  well 


THE  UNION  OF  PEOPLES. 


15 


aware  that  they  were,  in  fact,  subject  to  the  supreme 
power,  and  that  all  their  legitimate  and  distinctive  rights 
were  always  dependent  on  Rome.  Save  in  the  few 
countries  which  were  thus  exceptionally  dealt  with,  how- 
ever, the  provinces  were  under  the  immediate  rule  of 
Roman  officials  as  regards  justice  and  finance  and  all 
matters  of  administration.  This  sovereignty  of  Rome, 
and  the  operation  of  Roman  law  which  was  more  or  less 
valid  above  local  or  provincial  laws,  if  it  was  sometimes 
the  cause  of  bitterly-felt  oppression  in  particular  countries 
— especially  as  regards  the  often  extraordinary  high  taxes 
and  customs — was  another  powerful  influence  which 
tended  to  draw  separate  peoples  nearer  together.  But 
the  most  important  means  to  general  intellectual  inter- 
course was  the  spread  of  the  Greek  language  in  the 
Roman  empire.  It  is  true  the  Latin  was  the  language  of 
law,  of  justice,  and  of  the  soldiery ;  and  where  numerous 
castles  were  erected  and  colonies  established,  mostly 
peopled  with  veteran  and  retired  soldiers,  Latin  idioms 
mingled  with  the  rude  speech  of  the  country  and  at  last 
prevailed  generally,  as  was  the  case  in  the  provinces  now 
called  Spain  and  France.  But  in  the  eastern  half  of  the 
empire  the  Latin  came  into  conflict  with  the  more  devel- 
oped Greek  language  and  culture,  and  could  not  supplant 
both.  Especially  since  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great's 
march  into  Asia  and  the  formation  of  the  ^lacedonian 
kingdoms,  the  Greek  language  had  prevailed  more  and 
more  throughout  the  east.  Under  the  Seleucids  it  had 
come  into  common  use  in  Syria,  Phenicia,  and  even  in 
the  cities  of  the  Euphrates  and  Tigris.  In  Palestine,  next 
to  the  language  of  the  country,  a  knowledge  of  Greek 


14 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


was  indispensable  ;  and  at  Alexandria  in  Egypt  acquaint- 
ance with  Greek  literature,  science  and  art,  was  of  the 
greatest  importance.    At  Rome  itself  to  be  able  to  speak 
Greek,  and  to  acquire  Greek  culture,  was  considered 
necessary  and  essential,  not  only  for  a  more  refined  exist- 
ence  but  for  intercourse  with  Greek-speaking  fellow- 
subjects.   Thus  the  language  attained  ever-increasing  cur- 
rency, and  was — not  only  in  the  circles  of  the  most  culti- 
vated, but  as  the  language  of  the  world  and  of  commerce 
— as  well,  or  even  better,  known  than  the  French  or 
English  is  to-day.    CElius  Aristides  could  therefore  with 
justice  say  of  the  Greeks  : — "  They  celebrate  a  far  greater 
triumph  than  that  on  the  field  of  Marathon  in  the  victory 
of  their  language.    All  states  and  all  races  of  men  have 
yielded  to  the  spread  of  our  speech  and  our  way  of  life. 
It  does  not  stop  at  the  pillars  of  Hercules,  and  neither 
the  Libyan  desert,  nor  the  Bosporian  straits,  nor  the  nar- 
row defiles  of  Syria  and  Cihcia  have  set  limit  to  it ;  but, 
as  if  by  Divine  providence,  an  ardent  desire  for  our  wis- 
dom and  civilization  has  seized  on  all  the  world.  Our 
language  is  now  generally  recognized  as  the  common  one, 
and  through  it  the  whole  earth  is  become  intelligible  in 
the  same  utterance."^^    And,  above  all,  was  it  not  in 
this  same  language  which  united  the  peoples,  that  the 
Missionaries  of  the  Cross,  St.  Paul  for  example,  were  so 
easily  understood  when  preaching  the  Gospel,  whether  in 
Asia  Minor,  in  Athens,  or  in  Rome  ? 

The  city  of  Rome  was  the  heart  of  the  world-wide 
empire,  and  even  such  important  places  as  Alexandria, 
Antioch,  or  Corinth,  were  far  inferior  to  it.  Rome  was, 
as  it  has  often  been  said,  the  meeting-place  of  the  world. 


THE  UNION  OF  TEOPLES. 


15 


and  its  inhabitants  a  community  formed  by  a  union  of 
peoples.  In  this  city  people  of  all  nations  flocked 
together,  and  every  variety  of  costume  was  to  be  seen  in 
its  streets.  Hither  repaired  the  cultivated  Greek,  the 
Alexandrian  merchant,  and  the  Jewish  trader  ;  here  the 
black  African  and  the  sun-burnt  Asiatic  met  together 
with  the  fair-skinned  European.  Warehouses,  shops,  and 
custom-houses  were  filled  with  the  rarest  products  of 
distant  lands,  and  the  most  splendid  works  of  the  art 
industries  and  handicrafts  of  all  nations.  "  In  Rome," 
said  Pliny,  "the  goods  of  the  whole  world  could  be 
examined  close  at  hand."^^  In  the  summer  and  autumn, 
merchant  ships  arrived  from  all  lands,  bringing  cargoes  of 
wool,  silk,  and  linen  from  Alexandria ;  wine  and  oysters 
from  the  Grecian  islands ;  fish  from  the  Black  Sea ; 
medicinal  herbs  from  Africa ;  spices  from  Arabia ;  gar- 
ments and  jewels  from  Babylon.  From  the  farthest 
borders  of  the  empire  intelligence  was  continually  brought 
to  Rome.  Foreign  artists  here  exhibited  their  works,  and 
poets  and  orators  discoursed  in  public.  It  was  as  if  the 
whole  world  were  concentrated  in  Rome. 

Out  of  Rome,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  a  constant 
stream  of  travel  to  the  farthest  provinces ;  the  troops 
marched  to  their  stations  ;  the  imperial  functionaries  set 
out  for  their  spheres  of  duty  ;  pleasure-seekers  for 
favourite  places  of  resort  in  remote  regions ;  and  mer- 
chants returning  from  the  imperial  city  to  their  native 
places  communicated  to  their  neighbours  and  friends  the 
latest  news,  and  thus  helped  to  maintain  the  union  ot 
their  country  with  the  capital  of  the  world.  In  this  latter 
point  ths  colonies  also  were  of  special  assistance,  as  along 


16 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


with  Roman  manners  and  customs  they  introduced  a  cer- 
tain degree  of  civilization  into  the  countries,  such  as 
Britain,  the  provinces  on  the  Danube  and  the  Rhine,  or 
in  Syria,  in  all  of  which  there  were  military  stations.  And 
since  the  Romans,  as  we  have  said,  sought  their  culture 
amongst  the  Greeks,  many  philosophers,  rhetoricians, 
teachers,  and  physicians  came  to  Italy  to  spread  the  Greek 
language,  philosophy,  and  morals,  and,  unfortunately, 
often  Greek  vices  also.  On  the  other  hand  the  ambitious 
youths  and  men  from  Rome  often  journeyed  into  the  land 
of  the  Hellenes,  especially  to  Athens,  Corinth,  and 
Rhodes,  in  order  to  obtain  a  higher  education. 

In  short.  One  empire,  with  One  influential  imperial 
city,  made  itself  felt  everywhere.  That  which  obtained  a 
firm  footing  in  Rome  could  easily  find  access  to  every 
part  of  the  world.  Can  we  wonder  that  Peter  and  Paul 
both  made  Rome  the  goal  of  their  endeavours,  and  that 
it  was  from  Rome  that  Christianity  was  most  extensively 
propagated  ?  We  have  seen  how  the  Roman  rule  and  the 
Greek  language  and  culture  united  at  this  time  the  most 
famous  nations  of  ancient  history.  What  was  narrow, 
peculiar,  and  provincial  began  to  recede,  and  a  grand 
universalism  was  more  and  more  developed  m  its  place. 
National  consciousness  grew  into  world-consciousness. 
Must  we  not  see  in  all  this  how  the  way  was  prepared  for 
the  universal  rehgion,  and  how  the  world  was  made  ready 
for  the  work  of  Christianity  ? 


17 


II. 

Religious  Life  in  the  Heathen  World. 

Not  only  did  the  circumstances  we  have  described  pre- 
pare the  way  for  Christianity,  but  the  inner  hfe  of  the 
peoples  in  the  empire  showed  that  in  religion  and  morals 
a  change  for  the  better  must  soon  take  place. 

Let  us  look  first  at  the  state  of  religion. 

Heathendom  was  not  without  religion,  and  St.  Paul  was 
right  when  upon  the  Areopagus  at  Athens  (Acts  xvii.  22) 
he  declared  that  the  Greeks,  and  in  the  widest  sense  the 
heathen,  were  '''■too  god-feari?ig"  In  all  antiquity,  and 
especially  at  the  time  of  Jesus,  we  find  a  great  plenitude 
of  gods  and  goddesses,  numberless  temples,  manifold 
religious  services  and  sacred  performances.  In  town  and 
country,  in  field  and  forest,  sanctuaries  were  to  be  found ; 
if  not  always  temples,  at  least  sacred  trees,  stones,  and 
places.  The  whole  life  of  the  people  was  permeated  with 
rehgion,  and  men  were  ready  to  perform  acts  of  worship 
daily  and  hourly.  Before  every  important  action  of  the 
State  the  gods  were  consulted  ;  every  significant  period  of 
life  was  solemnized  with  religious  rites,  and  a  suitable 
tribute  was  paid  to  the  god  who  was  concerned ;  every 
household  festival  was  marked  by  idolatrous  worship; 
every  rank  in  society  had  its  own  divinities,  and  they  were 
to  be  found  in  all  sorts  of  buildings ;  even  brothels,  cook- 
shops,  and  prisons,  as  Tertullian  once  said,  had  their 
deities. 

c 


18 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


But  however  manifold  the  rehgious  life  of  the  ancient 
world  may  be,  and  however  numerous  the  different  kinds 
of  gods  that  we  meet  with,  we  may  classify  them  into 
those  of  the  Orient,  of  Greece,  and  of  Rome. 

One  of  the  most  marked  characteristics  of  the  people 
of  the  east,  and  that  which  distinguished  them  from'  those 
of  the  west,  was  a  strong  attachment  to  what  was  old  and 
traditional,  a  love  for  the  mysterious  and  for  showy  forms 
of  worship.  Viewed  as  a  whole,  their  religion  was  a  wor- 
^ship  of  Nature.  Their  deity  was  the  hidden  power  of 
Nature  itself  as  it  is  revealed  now  in  creating,  now  in 
animating  and  sustaining,  and  again  in  destroying. 
Among  the  people  of  India  the  welfare  of  men  was  in 
a  very  special  manner  dependent  upon  atmospheric  phe- 
nomena ;  and  accordingly  we  find  that  their  deities  were 
such  as  Indra,  the  god  of  the  atmosphere,  of  the  rain  and 
the  dew ;  Vritra,  the  evil  god,  who  opposes  Indra,  and 
restrains  him  from  pouring  out  his  blessings  on  the  earth ; 
and  Agni,  the  god  of  fire  and  source  of  creative  heat. 
Formerly  Brahma  was  regarded  as  the  only  and  infinite 
creator  of  the  world,  by  whom  the  powers  of  Nature, 
personified  as  deities,  governed  all  things.  The  later 
Nature-worship  recognized  three  principal  divinities  ;  next 
to  Brahma,  the  Soul  of  the  world,  the  true  invisible  life  of 
the  creation,  stood  Vishnu,  in  whom  were  comprehended 
all  the  salutary  phenomena  and  influences  of  Nature ;  and 
Siva,  as  the  eternal  reproductive  power  of  the  world, 
generating  new  life  out  of  destruction  and  ruin.  Among 
the  Medes  and  Persians  religion  and  worship  reflected  the 
great  contrasts  of  Nature,  in  Ormuzd,  the  god  of  light, 
and  creator  of  all  good,  and  Ahriman,  the  god  of  dark- 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  THE  HEATHEN  WORLD.  19 

ness,  and  the  source  of  all  evil.  The  religious  views  of 
the  Egyptians,  without  doubt,  proceeded  from  simple  wor- 
ship of  the  sun  and  the  Nile,  and  were  by  degrees 
spiritualized.  With  the  Babylonians  and  Assyrians  Baal 
was  the  active  and  Mylitta  the  passive  power  of  Nature, 
the  former  being  the  creative  and  the  latter  the  prohfic 
principle.  On  the  coast  of  Phenicia  also,  Nature  was 
deified.  Baal  and  Aschera,  or  Astarte,  were  the  Nature- 
god  in  a  general  sense.  This  deity,  as  Baal,  is  the  pro- 
creative  and,  as  Aschera,  is  the  fruit-bearing  or  productive 
power ;  both  being  sometimes  represented  as  united  in 
one  hermaphrodite  divinity.^^  The  rehgious  festivals  of 
the  Phenicians  were  closely  connected  with  the  changes 
in  the  life  of  Nature.  Indeed,  the  heathen  gods  them- 
selves sometimes  take  their  character  of  gentleness  and 
gladness,  or  of  gloom  and  terror,  from  the  seasons. 
We  need  only  refer  to  Moloch,  the  personification  of  the 
glowing,  killing  heat  of  summer,  who  was  worshipped 
with  the  agonizing  cries  of  children  offered  as  burnt  sacri- 
fices ;  or  to  the  worship  in  honour  of  Mylitta,  in  which 
women  of  loose  character,  enticed  to  lewdness,  and  virgins 
sacrificed  their  chastity  to  the  goddess. 

Thus  we  find  that  the  religion  of  the  east  everywhere 
was  mere  naturalism.  But  it  was  destined  to  become 
lifeless  and  powerless.  The  eternal  sameness  of  the 
course  of  Nature  gave  rise  to  no  new  thought  in  the 
minds  of  the  people.  And  therefore  this  species  of 
religion  furnished  no  further  impulse  to  their  sons  than  it 
had  done  to  their  grandfathers,  and  men  came  to  regard 
it  with  indifference.  They  made  use  of  it,  and  it  was 
dependent  upon  them,  not  they  upon  it.    The  priests 


20 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


themselves  were  not  able  to  stop  the  decay,  and  instead 
of  living  reverence,  worship  became  for  the  masses  an 
obtuse  superstition,  and  for  thinking  people,  a  subject  of 
ridicule  and  scorn.  Thus  in  the  Orient  faith  sank  lower 
and  lower,  and  the  eastern  peoples  were  especially  weary 
of  their  deities  when  Alexander  conquered  them,  and 
under  his  dominion  Greek  forms  of  worship  were 
established. 

In  contrast  with  the  east,  the  Greeks  in  their  deities 
idealized  Nature  and  man.  Their  divinities  are  the  moral 
powers  of  Nature  and  national  life,  to  which  fancy  gave 
noble  personified  forms.  If  they  lacked  the  rigour  of 
oriental  worship,  they  were  free  also  from  the  terror  and 
impurity  of  it.  Some  presentiment  of  the  moral  order  of 
the  world  had  dawned  upon  them.  The  Hellene  recog- 
nized not  only  that  there  are  ruling  powers  in  Nature  on 
which  he  was  dependent,  but  also  that  the  moral  relations 
of  men  are  governed  by  eternal  laws,  against  which  no 
one  can  sin  with  impunity.  To  the  orientals,  Baal  was 
only  the  life-giving  and  scorching  sun,  but  Zeus  to  the 
Greeks  was  the  guardian  of  justice,  the  all-seeing  eye, 
the  retribution  that  was  sure  to  come  after  wrong-doing  ; 
to  the  former  Astarte  was  the  sensual  instinct  of  Nature, 
but  Here  to  the  latter  was  the  protectress  of  domestic 
life  and  of  marriage,  a  breach  of  which  was  certain  to  be 
avenged  according  to  fixed  order.  Pallas  Athene  was  the 
defender  of  pure  reason,  the  victorious  wisdom ;  and 
Apollo,  the  god  of  light,  was  the  Divine  Revealer  of  the 
Greek  religion,  who  clears  away  obscurity,  discovers  guilt, 
and  expiates  it.  So  far  all  appears  pure  and  charming ; 
but  yet   mischievous   frivolity  was  not  far  off.  The 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  THE  HEATHEN  WORLD.  21 

humanized  gods  had  human  faults  and  vices ;  and 
Olympus  itself  was  finally  only  a  picture  of  natural  exist- 
ence, and  the  life  of  the  Greek  people. 

If,  however,  the  scope  of  religious  ideas  among  the 
Greeks  was  richer  and  more  moral  than  that  of  the 
Asiatics,  it  never  had  so  much  power  over  men's  minds 
as  the  religions  of  the  east.  Long  before  the  religion  of 
Greece  was  carried  into  the  east,  Greek  philosophers 
complained  of  the  poets  that  they  degraded  the  gods; 
and  the  people  complained  of  the  philosophers,  who 
sought  by  their  teaching  to  create  purer  conceptions  of 
the  deity.  New  images  and  new  stories  of  the  gods  were 
constantly  produced,  until  the  thoughtful  mind  soon  came 
to  regard  the  divinities  as  the  imaginary  creations  of  its 
own  intuition.  It  is  easy  to  understand  that  the  natural, 
consequence  of  such  a  state  of  things  was  the  ruin  of 
religious  life  in  Greece,  and  at  the  time  of  Jesus  that 
result  was  visible  to  all  eyes. 

In  Italy  religious  life  began  to  decline  with  the  com- 
mencement of  national  decay,  or,  indeed,  as  soon  as  the 
highest  point  of  political  prosperity  was  reached.  The 
old  Latin  gods  were  dry  abstractions  of  civil  and  social 
order.  Fides  was  the  guardian  of  fidelity  in  public  life ; 
Terminus,  of  the  bounds  and  limits  of  land  ;  Juno,  of  the 
faithfulness  of  married  couples ;  Vesta,  of  the  modesty 
and  discipline  of  the  home ;  ^sculanus,  of  honesty  in 
trade.  There  were,  moreover,  gods  who  in  the  opinion 
of  the  Romans  taught  children  to  cry,  watched  over  them 
in  the  cradle,  accustomed  them  to  food  and  drink,  and 
imparted  the  gifts  of  speech  and  singing.  In  the  same 
way  every  situation  and  condition  in  the  life  of  the  indi- 


22 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


vidual,  the  family,  or  the  people,  was  ruled  by  its 
own  guardian  deity,  whose  favour  it  was  necessary  to 
supplicate.  Hence  it  was  that  the  strictness  of  religious 
worship  was  written  in  the  public  and  private  life  of  the 
ancient  Romans ;  hence,  too,  the  observance  of  every 
particular  event  and  its  interpretation  by  augurs,  diviners, 
and  pontiffs. 

But  it  was  the  State  and  civil  life  for  whose  inner  laws 
the  Romans  gradually  came  to  feel  the  greatest  reverence. 
Their  gods  were  the  powers  upon  which  the  welfare  of 
the  State  was  dependent.  Jupiter  Capitohnus  assumed 
the  form  of  the  peculiar  and  principal  deity  of  the 
Romans,  and  in  reahty  was  a  representation  of  the  State. 
Mars,  the  god  of  war,  and  Victoria,  the  goddess  of  victory, 
were  the  august  powers  to  whom  the  Romans  prayed 
willingly  and  assiduously.  As  long,  therefore,  as  the 
sentiments  which  the  gods  represented  were  strong  in  the 
people,  the  divinities  were  sincerely  reverenced,  and  this 
religiousness  kept  the  life  of  the  people  healthy  and  strong. 
But  when  the  State  began  to  degenerate,  faith  also  de- 
clined. As,  in  a  practical  point  of  view,  the  national 
religion  of  the  Romans  consisted  in  the  creation  of  a 
world-wide  empire,  its  decay,  when  that  end  was  accom- 
plished, was  a  natural  consequence.  And  whereas 
beforetime  the  State  was  represented  by  Jupiter,  the 
emperors  now  fulfilled  that  function,  and  assumed  a  posi- 
tion at  the  head  of  all  the  host  of  deities.  The  official 
worship  of  Imperialism  became  the  State  religion.  Thus 
the  ancient  heathenism  culminated  in  the  deification  of 
man.  It  is  well  known  that  at  the  obsequies  of  Augustus 
an  eagle  flew  aloft  from  the  funeral  pile,  and  a  Senator 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  THE  HEATHEN  WORLD.  23 

testified  upon  oath  that  he  had  seen  the  emperor  ascend 
to  heaven.  Divine  honours  were  adjudged  to  this  deified 
emperor,  and  festivals,  temples,  and  a  special  college  ol 
priests  established  for  the  worship  of  him.  And  this  took 
place  continuously  with  every  deceased  emperor,  so  that 
Vespasian  upon  his  dying  bed  could  jest  :  "  I  shall  soon 
become  a  god,"^^  although,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  he  had 
forbidden  that  divine  honours  should  be  paid  to  himself. 
Caligula,  however,  did  not  wait  for  his  own  death,  but 
caused  the  heads  to  be  struck  off  from  the  statues  of  the 
pre-eminent  deities,  and  replaced  them  with  images  of  his 
own  head,  in  order  that  he  might  be  worshipped  instead 
of  the  gods.  Nero  and  Domitian  bore  themselves  in  a 
similar  fashion,  and  the  latter  distinguished  himself  in  his 
edicts  as  "  Lord  and  God."  In  such  a  state  of  things 
how  could  the  religion  of  the  forefathers  keep  its  ground, 
or  continue  to  exercise  influence  over  the  hearts  of  men  ? 
Was  not  religion  and  religious  Hfe  bound  to  sink  to  a 
low  ebb  ? 

It  is  just  at  the  time  when  Jesus  came  that  we  recognize 
by  many  signs  the  breakdown  of  the  Roman  religion. 
Men  were  discontented  with  their  own  deities,  and  sought 
after  new  ones.  This  is  partly  the  explanation  of  that  toler- 
ation which  it  was  a  principle  of  Roman  statesmanship  to 
exercise  towards  all  forms  of  worship  in  use  among  subject 
peoples,  without  concerning  itself  about  doctrines  and 
opinions  in  the  matter  of  religion.  Thus  the  Athenians 
maintained  their  worship  of  Athene  till  the  year  146  a.d., 
and  the  Jews  were  unmolested  in  the  service  of  Jehovah 
till  63.  Such  tolerance  only  found  a  limit  when  the 
doctrines  of  religion  interfered  with  political  life,  and 


24 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


especially  when  the  character  of  the  native  religion  pro- 
voked hostility  against  Rome.  It  was,  doubtless,  political 
wisdom  to  spare  whatever  was  regarded  as  sacred  among 
the  peoples,  and  to  leave  them  in  the  enjoyment  of  habits 
and  customs  which  did  not  hinder  them  from  rendering 
obedience  and  tribute  to  Rome  ;  but  when  we  see  how 
anxious  the  Romans  were  also  to  obtain  the  favour  of 
foreign  deities,  we  cannot  help  regarding  their  toleration 
as  a  sign  of  their  waning  faith  in  their  own  gods,  and  their 
expectation  of  finding  better  ones  in  those  of  other 
nations. 

But  the  old  principle  was  maintained  still  that  in  Rome 
itself  no  other  than  th^  gods  of  the  country  were  to  be 
reverenced,  and  that  only  in  times  of  great  distress,  and 
by  the  solemn  resolution  of  the  State,  should  foreign 
deities  be  adopted  in  the  Imperial  City,  and  thereby 
naturalized  among  the  gods  of  Rome.  This  was  the 
theory ;  but  the  actual  state  of  things  was  different,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  former  strict  isolation  of  nations  was 
broken  up,  intercourse  between  them  was  quickened,  and 
thus  the  migration  of  particular  forms  of  worship  from 
their  natural  home  into  other  lands  was  greatly  assisted. 
And  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  Italy,  and  especially 
Rome,  was  just  the  place  v>'here  there  would  be  the 
largest  influx  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  idolatry. 
Even  the  images  of  the  foreign  gods  were  allowed  to  be 
set  up  in  Rome  with  tacit  acquiescence.  Temples  were 
erected,  and  religious  services  of  the  most  heterogeneous 
description  were  held.  Neither  the  complaints  of  scrupu- 
lous Romans,  nor  measures  taken  by  individual  emperors 
were  able  to  accomplish  much  against  this.    And  thus 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  THE  HEATHEN  WORLD.  25 

Greek  temples  ^vere  to  be  seen  in  the  midst  of  Rome ; 
the  Phrygian  priests  of  Cybele  and  the  Egyptian  priests  of 
Isis  met  together  there  ;  and  many  a  Roman  worshipped 
the  Jewish  Jehovah,  or  addicted  himself  to  the  forms  and 
ceremonies  which  eastern  soothsayers,  magicians,  and 
astrologers  brought  with  them  from  distant  regions.  The 
Persian  worship  of  Mithra,  and  even  fetichism,  found  its 
adherents  among  the  people.  Nero  himself,  when  Astarte 
no  longer  satisfied  him,  reverenced  only  an  amulet.  The 
greater  the  distance  from  which  any  forms  or  ceremonies 
were  brought,  especially  if  they  came  from  the  far  east, 
the  greater  the  number  of  adherents  they  found  among 
the  crowd.  Two  things  are  clear  :  first,  that  the  foreign 
idolatries  which  were  national  in  their  character  and  yet 
were  separated  from  the  nations  to  which  they  belonged, 
were  sure  to  become  enervated  by  degrees  and  lose  their 
true  significance  ;  faith  in  the  gods  began  to  fail ;  the 
whole  existence  of  religion  was  shaken.  Second,  that  it 
could  not  be  otherwise  than  that  the  religious  chaos  which 
as  a  fact  had  taken  the  place  of  the  national  religion  should 
more  and  more  undermine  and  destroy  the  native  beliefs 
of  the  Romans.  But  heathenism,  and  especially  Roman 
heathenism,  had  by  no  means  run  its  course  yet.  Idols 
and  their  worshippers  were  numerous  enough ;  the 
temples  stood  yet  in  all  their  splendour ;  the  festivals  and 
sacrifices  were  solemnized  with  great  pomp ;  and  at  the 
time  of  Caligula's  accession  to  power,  one  hundred  thou- 
sand animals  are  said  to  have  been  slaughtered  within 
the  space  of  three  months  as  sacrificial  victims.  That 
heathenism  would  endure  for  some  time  yet  seemed 
probable  on  account  of  its  close  connection  with  the  State, 


26  IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 

the  continued  existence  of  domestic  religious  customs, 
and  the  stable  forms  of  idolatrous  worship  which  were 
rigorously  maintained  in  particular  districts. 

If,  however,  there  was  still  much  external  religious  life, 
the  deep  inward  faith  was  wanting,  and  among  the 
higher  classes  a  scepticism  which  was  especially  favoured 
by  Greek  enlightenment  showed  itself  every^vhere.  A 
Cato  and  a  Caesar  acknowledged  it  openly ;  Lucretius, 
with  fiery  zeal,  denounced  all  belief  as  a  gigantic  hob- 
goblin, and  the  gods  as  the  abortions  of  fear  ;  and  Pliny 
lays  it  down  as  a  certain  result  of  science  that  there  are 
no  deities,  and  that  Nature  alone  is  to  be  recognized  as 
God.  Others  endeavoured  m  vain  to  sustain  the  ancient 
faith ;  such  as  a  Dionysius,  for  example,  who  in  his 
Roman  history  expresses  his  admiration  of  Romulus  for 
his  loyalty  to  the  gods,  and  his  care  to  retain  their  favour; . 
or  a  Plutarch,  whose  works  show  him  to  'have  been  a  man 
of  genuine  heathen  faith  and  piety. 

Most  of  the  educated  people  struck  out  for  themselves 
a  middle  course,  and  while  not  openly  rejecting  the 
common  belief,  for  the  sake  of  its  conservative  elements, 
reserved  for  themselves  a  more  enlightened  opinion. 
And  thus  two  kinds  of  rehgion  were  distinguished :  the 
esoteric  religion  of  the  cultivated,  and  the  exoteric 
religion  of  the  multitude.  Varro,  indeed,  separates  from 
the  rehgion  of  the  people  the  mythical  conception  for  the 
poets,  and  the  physical  for  the  philosophers. 

It  may  be  thought  that  the  work  of  the  philosophers, 
who  were  professed  truth-seekers,  must  have  been  helpful 
to  religion  ;  but  they  were  just  the  men  whose  influence 
in  the  circles  of  the  most  attentive  and  thoughtful  was 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  THE  HEATHEN  WORLD. 


27 


potent  in  the  general  breakdown  of  heathen  rehgion. 
They  enhghtened  men's  minds,  and  destroyed  the  old 
faith,  but  had  nothing  new  to  offer  in  its  place,  nothing 
which  was  beyond  doubt  and  would  stand  the  test  and 
satisfy  the  heart.  At  the  best  they  could  only  advance  a 
little  beyond  others  in  the  matter.  The  multifariousness 
of  their  systems  led  to  confusion,  and  by  their  whole 
nature  and  character  they  were  incapable  of  restoring  the 
political,  religious,  and  moral  life  of  the  nation. 

Among  the  three  philosophical  systems  which  were  the 
most  widely  spread,  the  Scepticism  of  Pyrrho's  epoch  was 
at  first  a  'suspense  of  judgment,'  but  by  degrees  advanced 
to  the  mere  balancing  of  '  probabihties,'  and  then  to  uni- 
versal doubt  of  the  reality  of  knowledge.  The  Sceptic 
Lucian  says  roundly  that  everything  is  uncertain,  even  the 
existence  of  the  gods.  In  his  ''''Jupiter  Tragcsdtts"  he 
utters,  among  other  things,  the  ironical  syllogism  : — "  If 
there  are  altars,  there  must  also  be  gods  ;  now  there  are 
altars,  and  consequently  there  must  be  gods."  Epicurean- 
ism set  aside  all  objective  knowledge,  and  if  it  did  not 
absolutely  deny  the  existence  of  the  gods,  it  would  not 
allow  that  they  troubled  themselves  about  the  affairs  of 
the  world.  It  was  for  the  most  part  indifferent  to  religion, 
and  looked  upon  pleasure  and  enjoyment  as  the  highest 
good.  Stoicism,  the  third  of  the  three  systems,  found  the 
chief  good  in  virtue  :  its  adherents  might  be  called  medi- 
atorial theologians,  since  they  sought  to  unite  faith  and 
philosophy.  They  assumed  a  superior  deity,  a  pantheistic 
god,  who  is  the  All  of  things ;  but  under  him  they  accepted 
many  minor  deities  who  coincided  with  the  gods  of  the 
popular  religion.   Thus  the  Stoics  united  the  esoteric  and 


28 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


exoteric  conceptions  of  religion,  and  stand  before  us  as 
undoubtedly  the  noblest  of  all  the  heathen  sects,  as  men 
who  had  some  presentiment  of  Christianity,  and  who  were 
not  far  from  the  kingdom  of  God.  Nevertheless  it  is 
certain  that  even  they  could  not  save  the  ancient  faith  of 
heathenism. 

The  distinguishing  mark  of  that  time  was  the  gradual 
dying  out  of  the  native  religions  of  the  different  countries. 
In  the  circles  of  the  educated,  faith  in  the  gods  of  the 
old  rehgion  had  almost  vanished.  The  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple still  adhered  externally,  and  from  inherited  habits,  to 
their  divinities,  but  they  had  no  firm  trust  in  them,  and 
preferred  to  hold  by  the  most  visible  of  them — the  divus 
Ccesar  AugusUis.  Complete  atheism  and  nihilism  were 
only  of  rare  occurrence,  but  a  certain  pantheistic  mono- 
theism, which  arose  out  of  the  dissolution  of  polytheism, 
was  held  by  many.  The  various  deities  were,  so  to  speak, 
blended  into  one  Nature-god,  and  Nature  was  God  !  Was 
there  not,  however,  in  this  monotheism  some  dim  appre- 
hension of  the  one  true  and  only  God  ? 

But  it  was  nothing  more  than  a  presage  ;  and,  besides, 
heathenism  was  full  of  errors,  delusions,  and  defects. 
It  had  no  future  life  ;  for  it  the  highest  goal  that  could 
be  reached  lay  in  this  world.  The  ancients  lived  and 
thought  only  for  this  earth,  for  their  own  enjoyment,  for 
the  glory  of  the  world  and  of  human  life,  for  art  and 
the  State.  They  struggled  for  happiness,  but  could 
not  discover  the  way  that  led  to  it.  The  gods  were 
not  able  to  afford  them  any  guidance,  nor  to  lead  them 
to  the  highest  objects ;  and  in  the  customary  worship 
many  could  no  longer  find  any  satisfaction  and  comfort. 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  THE  HEATHEN  WORLD.  29 

Very  characteristic  in  relation  to  this  are  the  prayers  to 
the  gods  that  we  meet  with.  People  prayed  for  wealth, 
for  the  comforts  and  enjoyments  of  life,  and  for  the  pros- 
perity of  their  undertakings.  They  never  seem  to  have 
thought  of  asking  for  moral  good  from  the  divinity. 
"  Jupiter  give  me  life  and  riches,"  said  Horace,-^  "  the  firm 
and  tranquil  mind  I  will  procure  for  myself."  Seneca'^ 
teaches  that  man  must  make  his  own  happiness,  and 
that  it  is  disgraceful  to  become  troublesome  to  the  gods 
with  prayers  relating  thereto.  Maximus  of  Tyre  devotes 
a  treatise  to  proving  that  it  is  better  not  to  pray  at  all. 
And  thus  it  happened  that  when  neither  prayers  nor  vows 
accomplished  anything,  the  anger  of  the  people  against 
the  gods  manifested  itself  in  revihng  and  outraging  their 
images. 

Even  as  little  as  the  gods  which  the  people  made  for 
themselves,  were  the  philosophers  able  to  show  the  way  of 
salvation.  Neither  Epicurus  with  his — "  Enjoy  thyself !" 
nor  the  Sceptics  with  their — "Give  up  all  thought  of 
acquiring  certain  knowledge  !"  nor  the  famous  Stoics 
themselves  with  their — "Abstain  and  endure ;  be  suffi- 
cient for  thyself  !  "could,  as  we  have  seen,  teach  men 
the  secret  of  hohness  and  happiness.  The  whole  school 
of  Zeno  and  his  followers  were  ignorant  of  that.  Their 
doctrine  was  not  without  internal  contradictions  :  it  could 
not  comfort  men  in  their  sorrows ;  they  did  not  feel  them- 
selves morally  strengthened  by  their  self-pleasing  pride  of 
virtue,  which  would  be  indebted  to  itself  alone  for  all 
things,  which  laid  claim  to  equality  with  the  gods,  and 
made  pretensions  to  their  calmness  and  security,  yet 
remained  only  human,  frail,  and  faulty.     Sooner  even 


30 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


than  might  have  been  expected,  this  most  important  of 
the  heathen  schools  of  philosophy  became  extinct. 

Even  the  State,  as  such,  could  not  afford  any  help.  As 
long  as  the  great  consideration  was  the  upbuilding  and 
enlargement  of  the  edifice  of  Imperialism,  it  had  anima- 
ted the  minds  of  its  citizens  with  a  love  of  manhness 
{virtus)  which  showed  itself  practically  in  courage,  and 
the  ability  and  honour  of  a  citizen  ;  but  with  the  failing 
life  of  the  State  all  moral  support  failed  also,  and  the  old 
and  venerable  virtus  perished. 

When,  with  all  their  endeavours  and  seeking  and 
hoping,  men  could  not  reach  the  longed-for  goal,  they 
came  at  last  to  the  conclusion  of  heathen  wisdom : 
"  Patet  exitus  I " — "  There  is  a  way  of  escape  open — 
Death  !  "  Phny  held  the  best  of  man's  abilities  to  be 
that  he  can  put  an  end  to  his  own  hfe.  Petronius,  the 
man  of  pleasure,  in  the  midst  of  a  carousal  in  Nero's 
time,  quietly  opened  a  vein,  entertained  himself  and  his 
friends  with  frivolous  things,  and  had  profligate  poetry 
recited  before  him ;  when  something  came  that  was 
especially  jovial,  he  had  the  artery  bound  up  again,  in 
order  that  he  might  enjoy  all,  even  to  the  last  moment. 
And  Seneca-^  uttered  the  following  words  : — "  Seest 
thou  that  steep  precipice  ?  From  thence  is  the  way 
to  freedom.  Seest  thou  that  sea,  the  river,  the  well? 
There  in  its  depths  is  freedom  !  Seest  thou  yon  low 
withered  tree  ?  There  hangs  freedom.  Hast  thou  not  a 
neck,  a  throat,  a  heart  ?  There  is  deliverance  from 
bondage  !  "  With  that  patet  exitus^""  however,  man  only 
declared  himself  bereft  of  all  resources ;  for  however 
much  he  may  think  that  self-murder  is  a  virtue,  a  victory 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  IN  THE  HEATHEN  WORLD.  31 

of  the  great  '/,'  it  is  much  rather  its  utter  discomfiture. 

But  besides  such  voices  of  despair  many  a  sorrowful 
cry  was  heard,  hke  that  of  the  Apostle  :  "  O  wretched 
man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of 
this  death ? "  (Romans  vii.  24).  "I  am  tossed,"  said 
Seneca,-^  "  upon  a  sea  of  pure  infirmity."  "  The  human 
mind  is  by  nature  perverse  and  strives  after  what  is 
forbidden  and  perilous."  "  We  must  say  of  ourselves 
that  we  are  evil,  have  been  evil,  and — unhappily,  I  must 
add — shall  be  also  in  the  future."  A  knowledge  of  the 
weaknesses  of  human  nature,  of  the  natural  sinfulness  of 
men,  and  of  the  vanity  of  the  world  increased ;  insight 
into  the  inability  of  humanity  to  deliver  itself  became 
more  definite,  the  longing  after  a  God  exalted  above  all 
that  is  earthly  and  worldly  ever  more  conscious,  the 
desire  of  salvation  ever  more  living.  "  Nobody,"  said 
Seneca,^  "can  dehver  himself;  some  one  must  stretch 
out  a  hand  to  him  to  lift  him  up."  More  and  more  also 
men  began  to  turn  their  thoughts  to  a  future  life.  Some 
denied  that  there  was  any ;  others  were  filled  with  dubious 
thoughts  about  it.  But  one  thing  is  certain,  people  were 
asking :  "  Is  there  a  future,  an  immortal  life  ?  And  how 
can  one  attain  to  it  ?  "  It  is  a  question  which  has  led 
many  a  behever  to  the  Christian  faith.  People  looked 
with  expectancy  towards  the  east,  from  whence  it  was 
thought  that  the  Deliverer  would  come.  Suetonius^ 
and  Tacitus^^  relate  that  the  opinion  was  general,  that 
|the  east  would  become  powerful,  and  that  Judea  would 
obtain  the  rule  over  the  world.  And  VirgiP-  sings  of 
the  son  of  Asinius  Pollio,  who  would  bring  again  the 
Golden  Age,  the  Child  who  should  descend  from  heaven 


32 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


and  bring  peace  on  earth  (comp.  Isaiah  ix.  6,  7).  Such 
presageful  anticipations  of  heathen  poets  were  fulfilled, 
but  in  a  higher  sense  than  they  ever  dreamed  of.  Jesus 
Christ  gave  the  right  answer  to  the  insoluble  questions  of 
heathendom.  Looking  at  the  tottering  and  falling  fabric 
of  heathen  faith,  who  can  mistake  the  higher  hand  which 
was  pointing  to  the  Saviour  and  the  new  age  of  faith  ? 


III. 

The  State  of  Morals  among  the  Gentiles. 

With  the  downfall  of  the  ancestral  religion,  the  good  old 
disciphne  and  morality  perished  also.  It  is  true  that  at 
the  same  time  we  find  moralizing  literature  enough,  such 
as  Seneca's  discourses  on  virtue,  and  the  writings  of 
Horace,  Juvenal,  and  Tacitus.  It  was  also  the  fashion  to 
receive  philosophers  into  the  house,  not  merely  as 
teachers,  but  as  educators,  and  to  obtain  from  them 
counsel  and  advice  as  respects  character  and  conduct. 
But  only  too  often  the  corrupt  hfe  was  the  direct  contra- 
diction of  the  moralizing  teachings.  Seneca,  for  example, 
the  preacher  of  abstemiousness,  was  at  the  same  time  a 
covetous  man  and  a  spendthrift ;  the  preacher  of  morals 
was  an  adulterer ;  the  enthusiast  for  kindness  and  goodwill 
to  men  had  a  share  in  the  cruelties  of  Nero,  and  took  the 
part  of  one  of  his  pupils  who  was  a  matricide.  And  so  it 
was  almost  always.  Ever  more  general,  ever  more  des- 
pairing, became  the  lamentations  over  the  breaches  of 


MORALS  AMONG  THE  GENTILES. 


3a 


honourable  living,  and  the  growing  corruption  of  morals. 

And  thus  Juvenal  could  write^^ : — 

"A  ninth  age  of  the  world  is  ours,  in  wickedness  greater 

Than  that  of  iron  ;  and  Nature  herself  for  its  badness 
J  No  name  hath  as  yet  .found  out,  and  no  base  metal  engendered." 
And  Horace  says  of  his  tirae^* : — 

"  Our  fathers,  worse  in  their  day  than  our  grandsires, 
Begot  '18  a  still  more  degenerate  race  ; 
And  soon  will  a  worse  brood  than  "we  are  succeed  us." 
Indeed,  Seneca  does  not  exaggerate  when  he  says^^ : 
"  All  is  full  of  misdoing  and  vice  ;  more  sin  is  committed 
than  can  be  made  amends  for  by  punishment.  The 
dehght  in  wickedness  becomes  greater  day  by  day,  and 
the  fear  of  it  less.  Vice  no  longer  conceals  itself,  but 
appears  unabashed  before  all  eyes.  Innocence  is  not 
merely  rare,  but  almost  non-existent."  And  in  Livy^ 
we  read  :  "  Through  virtue  Rome  became  great,  and  now 
we  can  endure  neither  our  vices  nor  their  antidote."  The 
moral  corruption  began  in  the  imperial  palace ;  the  higher 
classes  imitated  the  doings  of  the  emperors  and  their 
retinue,  and  the  crowd  foHowed  after.  Thus  the  decay  of 
morals  became  universal. 

Above  all  it  was  to  be  seen  in  the  donvestic  life  of  the 
period.  In  Greece  the  strict  morality  of  family  life  had 
long  been  lost.  In  Rome  it  was  preserved  for  a  longer 
time ;  but  since  she  had  become  great  and  rich,  since  she 
had  absorbed  Greek  frivolity  along  with  Greek  culture, 
the  old  simple  family-hfe  had  passed  away,  and  with  it 
uprightness  of  conduct,  chastity,  and  discipline.  People 
paid  more  attention  to  outward  show,  to  the  splendour 
of  the  toilette,  to  amusement  and  enjoyment,  than  to 
propriety  in  the   family,  faithfulness  in   wedlockj  the 


34 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


education  of  children,  and  virtue  among  servants.  The 
house  was  amply  stored  with  various  sorts  of  soaps,  paints, 
and  cosmetics ;  manifold  shapes  of  false  hair,  imported 
from  Germany  or  the  east,  disfigured  the  head  ;  and  the 
greatest  possible  splendour  of  numerous  garments  adorned 
with  gold,  pearls,  and  precious  stones,  was  exhibited  in 
the  famiHes  of  the  richer  sort.  The  women  hastened 
daily  to  the  exhibitions  in  the  theatre  and  the  circus,  or 
to  banquets  and  revels  ;  and  if  the  poorer  class  of  them 
had  not  means  enough  to  make  a  show  with  their  own 
possessions,  they  hired  waiting-women  by  the  day,  who 
attended  upon  them,  and  sedan  chairs  in  which  they  were 
carried  to  feasts  and  places  of  amusement  and  even 
clothes  to  conceal  their  real  poverty. 

What  has  been  said  will  have  indicated  that  many 
women  paid  but  little  attention  to  the  duties  of  married 
life ;  they  were  too  much  occupied  with  other  things.  But 
other  circumstances  also  point  to  the  conclusion  that  at 
the  time  of  Jesus  true  happiness  was  very  seldom  to  be 
found  in  Roman  wedlock.  The  corruption  of  married 
and  family  life  had  indeed  reached  a  fearful  pass.  Even 
great  names,  such  as  Pompey,  Caesar,  Augustus,  are  iden- 
tified with  shameful  stories  of  adultery.  Augustus,  for 
example,  not  only  seduced  the  wives  of  others — out  of 
policy,  as  his  friends  said,  in  order  to  spy  upon  their  hus- 
bands— but  sent  covered  litters  direct  to  the  houses  of  the 
most  distinguished  Romans,  to  bring  their  wives  into  his 
palace.  Divorces  and  violations  of  marriage  vows  were 
familiar  daily  events.  Laws  were  passed  against  celibacy 
and  fornication,  by  which  it  was  thought  to  put  a  stop  to 
these  evils,  to  render  divorces  more  difficult,  and  to  lessen 


MORALS  AMONG  THE  GENTILES. 


35 


their  number,  but  unfortunately  they  were  ineffectual. 
Marriages  were  contracted  as  wantonly  and  carelessly  as 
they  were  afterwards  dissolved.  There  were,  as  was  said 
— surely  with  some  exaggeration — women  who  counted 
their  years  not  by  the  consulates,  but  by  the  number  of 
husbands  they  had  had.  And  JuvenaP'  relates  that  many 
wives  were  divorced  again  before  the  green  branches 
had  withered,  which  decked  the  door  of  the  house  for 
their  entrance  when  newly  married.  Marriage  was  for  the 
man  often  only  a  matter  of  business  and  finance,  and  for 
the  woman  a  means  of  escape  from  the  restraints  of  the 
nursery.  As  soon  as  a  girl  had  passed  her  twelfth  year 
she  was  considered  marriageable,  and  as  a  rule  was  mar- 
ried between  her  thirteenth  and  sixteenth  years.  Daugh- 
ters took  formal  leave  of  their  childhood  when  they  de- 
posited their  dolls  and  other  toys  in  the  temple  of  Venus. 
Entrance  upon  married  life  was  for  the  girl,  because 
of  her  extreme  youth,  generally  a  hasty  passage  from 
absolute  dependence  to  unlimited  freedom.  Even  while 
yet  a  child  the  youthful  wife  found  herself  suddenly  trans- 
ported into  a  large  and  glittering  world,  surrounded  with 
all  sorts  of  temptations  and  perils,  and  was  seldom  capa- 
ble of  using  the  unlimited  freedom  for  her  own  happiness 
and  welfare,  and  that  of  the  family.  Very  unfavourable 
judgments  upon  women  are  therefore  to  be  found  in  the 
pages  of  heathen  writers.  Pliny^  affirms  that  since 
the  censorship  of  Mesalla  and  Cassius,  modesty  had 
ceased  to  exist  in  Rome ;  and  Horace^^  tells  us  that 
womanly  virtue  was  no  longer  to  be  found.  Tacitus^" 
praises  Germany  in  contrast  with  Rome,  because  there 
nobody  laughed  at  vice,  and  seduction  was  not  the  fashion 


36 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


of  the  time.  Fidelity  in  wedlock  was  scoffed  at ;  and 
Seneca^^  relates  that  intrigues  and  seductions  were 
prevalent  customs.  He  who  had  not  distinguished  him- 
self by  a  love-affair,  and  stood  in  no  dishonourable  rela- 
tion with  another  man's  wife,  was  treated  with  contempt 
by  women,  and  regarded  as  an  effeminate  person.  Indeed 
things  became  so  bad,  that  married  ladies  of  high  rank 
had  their  names  inserted  in  the  police  register  as  women 
of  a  certain  character,  in  order  that  they  might  give  them- 
selves up  to  unbridled  debauchery.'*' 

The  so-called  polite  literature  of  the  time,  which  often 
could  hardly  have  been  outdone  in  immorality,  had  a 
very  injurious  effect  on  the  female  sex.  To  this  was  added 
the  evil  influence  of  pictorial  art.  The  most  infamous 
pictures  were  painted  on  walls  and  ceilings,  which  the 
innocent  eyes  of  women  and  girls  could  not  avoid  seeing. 
The  revels  at  banquets  and  the  vicious  enticements  of 
plays  and  spectacles  were  of  the  worst  description.  The 
passion  for  the  latter  arose  out  of  curiosity  and  the  desire 
of  being  seen ;  and  too  often  impure  love-affairs  and 
intrigues  took  place  in  the  theatre.  Comedy  and  farce, 
full  of  coarse  unequivocal  lewdness,  and  lascivious  panto- 
mimic dances  incited  to  sensuality.  The  scenes  of  pubhc 
torture  in  the  arena  brutahzed  men's  minds,  and  destroyed 
all  tender  sensibilities  ;  and  the  banquets  with  their 
debaucheries,  their  obscene  theatrical  representations, 
their  immodest  songs,  and  their  infamous  dances — in 
which- the  closest  approximation  of  the  sexes  was  for  the 
most  part  the  object  aimed  at — continually  resulted  in 
amours,  seductions,  and  matrimonial  infidehty. 

If  children  were  born  of  a  marriage,  the  parents  did 


MORALS  AMONG  THE  GENTILES. 


37 


not  recognize  it  as  a  duty  and  a  joy  to  train  them  up  and 
form  them  for  virtue,  but,  to  their  own  and  the  children's 
injury,  left  them  to  the  training  and  management  of  slaves. 
To  be  blessed  with  children  was  no  pleasure,  but  a  bur- 
den ;  and  hence  people  did  not  shrink  from  infanticide, 
or  at  least  from  the  exposure  and  abandonment  of  their 
offspring.  Even  Augustus  commanded  that  the  child 
which  his  grand-daughter  Juha  bore  after  her  banishment 
should  be  taken  from  her  and  exposed.  This  was  often 
done,  in  the  hope  that  passers-by  would  save  the  child 
and  bring  it  up.  But  if  so,  what  was  its  lot  ?  The  boy 
was  commonly  trained  as  a  gladiator,  the  girl  brought  up 
to  be  a  prostitute.  Among  the  higher  orders  worse  things 
than  the  exposure  of  children  were  done.  Forcible  means 
were  employed  to  procure  miscarriage,  either  from  dread 
of  the  pains  of  parturition,  or  that  the  figure  of  the 
woman  might  not  be  injured.  Things  must  have  come  to 
a  terrible  pass,  when  Seneca  boasts  of  it  as  an  especial 
excellence  in  his  mother  that  she  had  not  destroyed  the 
hope  of  motherhood  in  her  womb.  While  in  Christian 
households  there  is  an  average  of  five  or  six  children  to  a 
family,  in  the  Roman  empire  three  living  children  were 
considered  the  mark  of  fertility,  in  consideration  of  which 
the  father  was  granted  freedom  from  all  personal  public 
burdens.  And  thus  marriage  sank  ever  deeper  into  ruin, 
and  many  men  preferred  the  freedom  of  unmarried  life, 
and  surrendered  themselves  rather  to  all  sorts  of  lascivious 
sins,  and  to  acts  which  cannot  be  named  in  particular. 
Opportunities  for  indulgence  in  sinful  pleasures  were  found 
everywhere,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  temple,  where  often 
the  priestesses  were  gay  women ;    so  that  Tertullian*' 


38 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


brands  temples,  groves,  and  other  sacred  places  as  nests  of 
adultery,  lewdness,  and  other  abominable  crimes.  What 
is  said  in  Romans  i.  24  had  at  that  time  its  full  justifica- 
tion. 

Of  course  there  were  noble  exceptions  ;  many  a  good 
wife  was  the  "hght  of  the  house  many  a  marriage  was 
contracted  and  maintained  in  fidehty ;  and  also  earnest 
preachers  of  repentance  were  not  wanting,  who  exhorted  to 
honourable  life,  such  as  Tacitus,  who  in  his  "  Germania," 
held  up  the  modesty  and  moraHty  of  German  women  as 
a  mirror  for  his  contemporaries.  But  on  the  whole  the 
state  of  things  was  very  bad  indeed  ;  and  the  continuous 
decay  of  all  good  domestic  morals  and  propriety  of  con- 
duct is  certain.  Nothing  short  of  the  Christian  religion 
was  able  to  restore  family  life  ;  just  as  it  alone  could 
bring  to  an  age  boasting  of  its  'humanities'  the  true 
humanity,  that  is,  the  equal  estimation  of  the  various 
classes  of  men  as  men.  The  Romans  thought  themselves 
exalted  far  above  slaves  and  freedmen.  In  their  eyes  the 
slave  was  at  best  only  partially  a  man,  and  they  denied  to 
him  all  free  will  and  all  capacity  for  virtue.  Varro,  for 
example,  cited  once  three  kinds  of  chattels  as  needful  for 
agriculture  :  the  dumb,  such  as  waggons  and  implements ; 
those  with  inarticulate  language,  such  as  oxen  ;  and  those 
that  speak,  that  is  the  slaves.  Others  went  beyond  even 
this  conception,  and  the  word  used  by  Horace,  Cicero, 
and  others,  to  denote  a  slave,  that  is  mancipiiwt^'^  or  a 
possession,  speaks  for  itself.  The  slaves  were  to  them  not 
persons  but  things,  since  they  did  not  possess  anything, 
but  were  themselves  possessions.  The  treatment  that 
slaves  received  corresponded  to  this.    They  were  bought 


MORALS  AMONG  THE  GENTILES.  39^ 

and  sold,  pledged  or  exchanged,  given  away  or  inherited 
— were  according  to  necessity  or  convenience  destined 
for  handicrafts  and  trades ;  for  gladiatorial  combats  or  for 
the  brothel ;  or  indeed  even  to  be  door-keepers,  chained 
like  watch-dogs.  People  punished  them  at  their  own 
pleasure,  and  often  murdered  them  upon  the  smallest  pre- 
text. The  aged  were  exposed  or  driven  away  with  entire 
unconcern  about  what  became  of  them ;  or  slain  as  if 
they  were  cattle.  Nobody  could  interfere  with  the  master 
in  doing  this,  and  nobody  called  him  to  account  for  it. 
"Against  slaves  all  is  lawful,"  was  a  principle  of  Roman 
law.  The  condition  of  field-slaves  was  miserable  in  the 
extreme ,  they  were  often  shut  up  by  thousands  in  the 
slave-pens ;  and,  at  njght  especially,  were  chained  by  the 
feet.  But  the  domestic  slaves  also  suffered  terribly  ;  they 
were  obliged  to  be  always  at  hand  ready  for  any  service, 
and  woe  to  them  if  they  committed  a  fault.  The  female 
slaves  were  frequently  compelled  to  perform  their  duties 
with  bare  shoulders  and  breasts,  in  order  that  they 
might  feel  the  more  sharply  the  thrusts  and  blows  of  their 
mistresses  upon  their  naked  flesh.  A  slave  was  often  as  a 
punishment  fettered  to  a  block,  upon  which  he  sat,  or  which 
he  had  to  drag  about  with  him  by  day  and  night.  Treated 
according  to  caprice,  and  held  in  subjection  by  fear  alone, 
the  natural  result  was  that  the  slaves  themselves  became 
base  in  disposition,  lazy  in  work,  lying  and  deceitful  in 
their  conversation,  bitterly  hostile  against  their  masters, 
and  ready  for  mutiny  and  vengeance.  And  yet  they  knew 
well  that  if  a  conspiracy  was  discovered  among  the  slaves 
of  any  master,  all  would  have  to  atone  for  it,  whether 
innocent  or  guilty ;  and  that  if  the  lord  of  the  house  met 


40 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


with  his  death  through  any  slave,  all  his  fellow  slaves 
under  the  same  roof  must  die  for  it. 

The  number  of  slaves  who  were  employed  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  same  family  appears  to  us  extraordinarily  great. 
There  were  atrienses^''  for  the  atrium^  the  principal  room 
of  the  house;  cubici/larii"  for  service  in  the  sleeping 
chambers;  secretariV  for  the  composition  of  letters; 
^Uecfores"  or  readers  ;  " introductores''  to  usher  in  visitors, 
and  nomenclaiores"  to  tell  the  master  the  names  of  his 
chents  and  persons  whose  votes  he  wished  to  solicit.  There 
were  also  stewards,  bath-attendants,  cooks,  letter-carriers, 
sedan-chair  bearers,  grooms,  and  others.  For  the  slaves 
owned  by  the  municipality  as  many  as  one  hundred  and 
twenty  offices  and  occupations  are  enumerated.  Horace 
held  that  for  the  service  of  people  in  easy  circumstances 
ten  slaves  were  t*he  smallest  number  ;  but  many  had  more 
than  a  thousand.  Scaurus,  for  example,  had  four  thou- 
sand ;  and  Crassus  so  many  that  his  gang  of  builders  and 
carpenters  alone  was  over  five  hundred  strong. 

Next  in  rank  to  the  slaves  stood  the  freedmen,  from 
whom  the  lower  class  of  officials,  overseers,  bailiffs,  &c., 
were  recruited  ;  or  by  whom  the  smaller  retail  trades  and 
crafts  were  carried  on.  But  none  of  them  really  possessed 
the  dignity  of  a  freeman ;  they  remained  slavish  in  spirit, 
and  often  became  the  pliant  instruments  of  the  crimes 
and  vices  of  their  lords. 

The  work  of  the  slaves  and  the  so-called  freedmen  was 
to  labour  and  provide  for  the  free  Romans.  To  the  latter 
labour  was  a  disgrace,  so  that  even  Cicero  despised  every 
occupation  by  which  money  was  earned  as  degrading 
slavery.    And  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  Roman  people  of 


MORALS  AMONO  THE  GENTILES. 


41 


that  time  spent  their  hves  without  earnest  work  of  any 
kind.  Two  classes  of  the  population  must  be  distin- 
guished :  the  rich  and  the  poor.  A  middle  class,  such  as 
we  see  to-day,  scarcely  existed.  Thus  the  intermediate 
orders,  such  as  small  tradesmen,  mechanics,  and  other 
industrial  people  were  very  sparingly  represented,  because 
slave-labour  was  cheaper  and  more  sought  after ;  and 
because  the  distribution  of  corn  by  the  State  enabled  the 
poorest  to  live  entirely  or  almost  without  labour.  Instead 
of  honest  labour  to  obtain  support,  those  who  had  no 
other  means  of  living  sought  their  bread  as  '  clients,'  or 
dependents  on  the  houses  of  the  great  people  who  were 
their  'patrons.'  They  made  their  visits  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  often  accompanied  their  lords  on  their  way  to 
the  senate,  to  the  baths,  or  to  amusements.  They  accepted 
■as  part  of  the  order  of  things  the  greatest  insults  which 
they  had  to  bear,  not  only  from  the  '  patrons '  themselves, 
but  frequently  from  their  slaves  also. 

Of  a  free  peasantry  likewise  there  is  not  much  to  be 
said ;  the  civil  wars  had  almost  made  an  end  of  them. 
The  discharged  legions  of  the  victor  were  commonly  pro- 
vided for  by  landed  property  in  Italy,  as  was  done  by 
Sulla  and  Octavius.  But  as  old  soldiers  seldom  make 
good  farmers  they  commonly  preferred  to  sell  their  pos- 
sessions to  the  large  land-owners.  From  this  cause  enor- 
mous territories  were  acquired  by  a  few  individuals. 
Cicero  complains  of  this  evil  in  his  oration  against  Verres  : 
*'  We  have  suffered  for  many  years,  because  the  money  of 
all  the  people  has  passed  into  the  hands  of  some  few 
men  ;  you  see  all  landed  property  distributed  in  some  few 
*    large  estates."    And  Seneca**  says  :  "  Large  tracts  of  land 


42 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


are  cultivated  by  chained  gangs  of  slaves  ;  an  immense 
stock  of  cattle  needs  provinces  and  kingdoms  for  grazing 
grounds,  hordes  of  servants  larger  than  warlike  races, 
and  buildings  the  circuit  of  which  is  greater  than  that  of 
some  large  cities."  The  sensible  farmer  directs  his  atten- 
tion to  profitable  cultivable  fields ;  but  at  that  time  people 
were  not  in  a  position  to  put  their  land  to  the  best  use, 
because  of  its  vast  extent  and  the  scarcity  of  labour.  So, 
as  bad  farming  did  not  pay  then  any  more  than  now,  they 
fell  back  on  cattle-breeding  and  grazing ;  and  thus 
instead  of  waving  fields  of  corn  one  saw  only  vast  tracts 
grazed  by  cattle,  and  in  parts  bare  and  desolate.  The 
Romans,  especially  those  with  no  means,  preferred  to 
dwell  in  the  city  rather  than  in  the  country.  Excessive 
numbers  migrated  from  the  rural  districts  into  Rome,  and 
thus  the  population  of  the  imperial  city  was  estimated 
at  nearly  two  millions.  But  of  these  only  about  ten 
thousand  belonged  to  the  higher  orders ;  the  bulk  was 
composed  partly  of  the  foreigners,  and  to  a  far  larger 
extent  of  the  slaves  and  the  poor.  For  the  most  part  the 
latter  lived  in  a  state  of  extreme  poverty,  and  got  their 
bread  from  other  people's  hands.  If  moreover  the  slaves 
were  supported  by  their  masters,  and  the  'clients,'  or 
dependents  generally,  by  their  '  patrons/  there  were  still 
about  two  hundred  thousand  poor  citizens  who  with  their 
wives,  sisters,  and  children  had  to  be  supported  by  the 
State ;  and  beyond  these  again  there  were  still  thousands 
of  poor  wretches  who  were  shut  out  from  State  aid,  and 
whose  only  places  of  shelter  were  the  porticoes  and  vesti- 
bules of  the  temples.  In  other  cities  than  Rome,  where 
the  regular  distribution  of  money  and  corn  did  not  take 


MORALS  AMONG  THE  GENTILES. 


43 


place,  the  number  of  miserable  poor  was  relatively  not 
less  great.  The  Romans  did  not  give  willingly  and 
generously,  but  almost  always  because  they  were  com- 
pelled to  do  so.  "Why  give  anything  to  a  beggar?"  said 
Plautus,^^  "one  only  loses  what  is  given  and  prolongs 
the  miserable  life  of  the  poor."  Nobody  thought  then  of 
founding  almshouses  for  the  poor  or  a  hospital  for  the 
sick.  Julian  was  the  first  to  conceive  such  an  idea,  and 
he  was  inspired  by  the  example  of  the  Christians. 

In  contrast  with  the  misery  of  the  poor,  the  few  who 
were  very  rich  revelled  in  unheard  of  excess  and  luxury. 
Cicero,  with  his  fortune  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  pounds,  did  not  belong  to  the  richest  class  of 
senators.  It  is  computed  that  from  one  to  one  and  a  half 
millions  were  often  accumulated  in  the  hands  of  one  man. 
Aspicius  killed  himself  because  he  could  not  live  as  he 
thought  on  about  twenty-five  thousand  pounds,  the  residue 
of  a  fortune  of  seven  hundred  thousand  pounds.  The 
public  and  private  buildings  exhibited  great  splendour 
and  prodigal  expenditure.  The  magnificent  house  of 
Cicero  was  valued  at  thirty-six  thousand  pounds  ;  that  of 
Clodius  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds ;  that 
of  Maecenas  equally  high.  But  the  "golden  house"  of 
Nero  was  the  great  wonder  of  the  time.  It  enclosed  fields, 
gardens,  meadows,  woods,  and  even  a  lake.  The  entrance 
to  this  edifice  could  admit  a  large  *  colossus '  one  hundred 
and  twenty  feet  high,  and  the  galleries  were  each  a  mile 
long.  The  water  of  the  sea  was  brought  in  to  supply  the 
baths,  and  sulphur-water  from  the  hot  springs  of  Tiber. 
The  wealthy  Roman  was  not  content  with  his  splendid 
city  residence,  but  in  addition  built  villas  in  the  mountains 


44 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


or  by  the  sea.  People  were  always  ready  to  build  and 
construct,  and  no  age  has  been  so  filled  with  a  passion  for 
architecture  as  that  of  which  we  speak.  Palaces  and 
temples,  theatres  and  baths,  triumphal  arches  and  statues, 
bridges  and  roads,  aqueducts  and  conduits,  were  built 
everywhere.  This  was  the  case  not  in  Rome  only,  but 
also  in  other  cities  and  smaller  towns.  Pompeii,  which  a 
great  fatality  has  preserved  for  us  in  its  originality,  is  a 
sufficient  proof  of  this. 

The  interiors  of  dwellings  did  not  present  the  comforts, 
conveniences,  and  agreeable  features  of  those  of  to-day, 
notwithstanding  their  greater  splendour  and  sumptuous- 
ness.  But,  according  to  the  descriptions  of  contemporary 
writers,  imagination  can  hardly  conceive  the  noble  arrange- 
ment of  the  houses,  the  elegance  of  the  furniture  and 
utensils,  the  fineness  and  costliness  of  draperies,  and  the 
general  luxuriousness. 

Within  these  magnificent  homes  greed  of  enjoyment, 
effeminacy,  and  voluptuousness  held  full  sway.  Numerous 
slaves  were  at  hand,  ready  to  come  or  go  at  any  moment, 
banquets  and  other  festivals  followed  close  upon  one 
another ;  so  that  the  use  of  emetics  was  resorted  to,  to  rid 
the  stomach  of  the  undigested  food,  and  prepare  for  new 
repasts.  An  enormous  and  unnecessary  expenditure  for 
viands  from  the  most  distant  countries,  for  the  rarest 
flowers  in  the  midst  of  winter,  for  costly  unguents  and 
perfumed  waters,  was  always  exhibited  on  such  occasions. 
Large  ships  and  caravans  were  constantly  employed 
bringing  delicacies  and  jewels  from  the  farthest  provinces 
to  the  houses  of  the  rich  Romans.  What  mattered  the 
price  ?    The  dearer  the  better  !    For  some  foreign  birds. 


MORALS  AMONG  THE  GENTILES. 


45 


which  were  considered  great  luxuries  for  the  table,  more 
than  one  hundred  pounds  each  was  sometimes  paid ;  and 
some  kinds  of  salt-water  fish  cost  about  forty  pounds  each. 
Hirtius,  for  the  maintenance  of  his  stock  of  sea  fish  in 
canals  and  ponds,  required  a  yearly  expenditure  of  sixty 
thousand  pounds.  The  simple  supper  that  Lucullus  had 
prepared  in  haste  for  Caesar  and  Pompey  cost  fifteen 
hundred  pounds. 

But  what  was  the  result  of  such  luxury  and  voluptuous- 
ness ?  The  life  of  enjoyment  was  mentally,  morally,  and 
physically  enervating  and  ruinous.  It  produced,  as  is 
affirmed  by  contemporaries,  a  race  of  men  with  pallid 
faces,  flabby  cheeks,  swollen  eyes,  trembling  hands,  and 
large  stomachs — a  race  weak  in  intellect,  without  recol- 
lection and  moral  power.  Life  was  passed  away  by  the 
larger  number  m  pleasure  and  sensual  gratification.  For 
very  many  there  was  no  higher  or  ideal  good.  The 
passion  for  spectacles  and  plays  is  an  evidence  of  that. 
In  the  theatre  it  was  no  more  the  grave  tragedy  which 
held  men's  attention,  but  plays  representing  adulteries 
and  love  intrigues,  in  the  dialogue  of  which  virtue  and 
the  gods  were  openly  scoffed  at.  The  chief  object 
sought  was  the  gratification  of  sensual  passion  by 
obscenity  and  especially  by  the  dancing  of  half  or  quite 
nude  female  performers.  The  circus  and  the  amphi- 
theatre were  thronged  with  the  people.  "  Bread  and 
play  "  was  the  motto  of  that  time.  Thus  abundant 
supplies  of  corn  were  imported  for  food,  and  numerous 
plays  and  spectacles  provided  for  amusement.  Not  in- 
frequently the  hungry  people  had  to  be  fed  immediately 
after  the  pubhc  festivities.    Under  Augustus  there  were- 


46 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


sixty  days  in  succession  celebrated  by  games  and  plays ; 
under  Marcus  Aurelius,  a  hundred  and  thirty-five.  It  was 
the  same  in  the  provinces;  theatres  were  erected  wherever 
it  was  practicable,  and  it  is  well  known  that  Agrippa,  to  the 
horror  of  the  Jews,  had  a  circus  built  in  Jerusalem.  At 
the  chariot  races  in  Caesar's  time,  in  the  circus  at  Rome, 
there  were  often  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  spec- 
tators present ;  in  the  days  of  Titus  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand ;  at  a  later  period  three  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand.  In  the  ampitheatre  the  famous  combats  of  the 
gladiators  took  place,  also  animal-baitings,  and  represen- 
tations of  battles  on  sea  and  land.  And  at  the  present 
day  we  may  read  upon  the  walls,  which  eighteen  hundred 
years  ago  were  buried  by  the  ashes  of  Vesuvius,  the 
invitations  to  such  mournful  exhibitions.  The  worst  of 
all  was  that  the  scenes  were  enacted  not  in  mere  show  but 
in  terrible  earnest.  In  these  games  hundreds  often  met 
with  their  death  in  one  day,  and  many  a  poor  Christian  of 
the  earliest  times,  and  many  a  grey-headed  bishop  was 
sacrificed  to  the  greed  of  the  people  for  sight-seeing. 

In  the  provinces  the  state  of  things  was  not  so  bad  as 
it  was  in  Italy,  especially  in  Rome ;  but  it  was  certainly 
not  much  better.  Roman  rule  brought  not  only  civihza- 
tion  but  often  immorality  also  to  rude  and  uncultivated 
peoples.  Many  a  seat  of  Roman  government  and 
authority  became  also  a  school  of  Roman  vices.  The 
procurators  commonly  led  the  way  in  evil  living.  They 
obtained  much  wealth  by  oppression  and  exaction,  and 
collected  all  sorts  of  treasure ;  this  indeed  was  the  princi- 
pal object  of  their  management.  Crassus,  for  example, 
is  said  to  have  taken  from  the  treasury  of  the  temple  in 


MORALS  AMONG  THE  GENTILES. 


47 


Jerusalem  ten  thousand  talents,  equal  to  about  two  and  a 
quarter  millions  sterling,  of  which  immense  treasure  a  large 
.  part  was  his  own  share.  The  procurator  Felix  hoped  to 
obtain  a  bribe  from  a  man  so  poor  as  Paul.  The  lower 
class  of  officials  in  the  empire,  of  course,  followed  the 
example  of  their  superiors  ;  the  soldiers  sought  to  do  as 
well  for  themselves  as  the  officers ;  and  the  rest  of  the 
people,  as  they  had  opportunity  and  abihty,  did  not  lag 
behind  in  the  general  moral  delinquency.  Self-indulgence 
and  sensual  pleasure  was  the  object  and  endeavour  of  all. 

The  moral  emptiness  and  desolation  of  the  ancient 
world  is  evident  to  all  eyes.  It  had  no  moral  and  spiritual 
purpose  by  which  to  solve  the  problems  that  are  vital  to 
the  very  existence  of  the  State.  The  upbuilding  of 
political  life  with  all  its  earnestness  and  struggle  and  en- 
deavour was  over.  Many  things  sank  into  the  mere 
shows  and  semblances  of  realities  ;  and,  in  truth,  this  was 
the  case  with  the  assemblies  of  the  people,  the  Senate, 
and  the  high  offices  of  religion  and  the  State.  Everything 
was  sacrificed  to  appetite,  enjoyment,  and  play.  Because 
heathenism  had  no  goal  beyond  the  grave,  it  had  no 
worthy  purpose  and  aim  on  this  side  of  it. 

The  picture  which  our  survey  has  unfolded  before  the 
mind's  eye  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  melancholy  one.  Un- 
doubtedly there  were,  notwithstanding  what  has  been  said, 
some  healthy  elements,  and  reputable  homes,  and  brave 
true  men  in  the  Roman  empire.  We  must  remember, 
too,  that  what  is  known  of  the  moral  life  of  the  period, 
has  mostly  come  down  to  us  from  Rome  itself ;  and  that 
in  the  imperial  city,  the  centre  of  the  world,  the  moral 
corruption  was  naturally  greater  than  in  the  provinces, 


48 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


where  the  good  old  traditions  and  habits  must  have  main- 
tained their  ground  for  a  much  longer  time.  We  must 
also  admit  that  the  night-side  of  life,  the  evil  that  is 
rampant  at  any  period  will  from  its  own  nature  attract 
attention  more  than  the  good,  which  largely  works  in  the 
stillness  and  out  of  sight.  Nevertheless,  the  result  of  our 
brief  survey  of  the  state  of  the  heathen  world  in  the  time 
of  Christ  can  lead  to  no  other  conclusion  than  that  it  was, 
morally  and  religiously  considered,  fast  hastening  to  ruin ; 
and  that  in  heathenism  itself,  as  we  have  shown  in  our 
last  chapter,  there  was  no  force  from  which  renewal  of  life 
and  moral  regeneration  could  proceed.  The  general  im- 
potence was  felt ;  the  longing  after  a  moral  and  religious 
*  new  creation '  became  ever  more  living  and  deep.  But 
the  power  by  which  it  was  to  be  wrought  could  not  come 
from  within ;  it  had  to  come  from  above.  It  was  only 
when  the  Christian  religion  appeared  that  a  fountain  was 
opened,  from  which  streams  of  new  life  flowed  through  a 
world  that  was  morally  and  religiously  sick  and  dying, 
and  by  which  the  Old  world  was  transformed  into  the 
New.  The  expectant  gaze  of  the  nations  was  directed 
towards  the  East ;  and  in  the  East  hved  the  people  of 
whom  the  Saviour  was  to  be  born — the  Jewish  people. 


49 


PART  SECOND. 


The  yewish  World. 
I. 

The  Land  and  the  People  of  Israel. 

Palestine,  the  "  promised  land  of  the  people  of  the  old 
covenant,"  is  a  small  country,  bounded  on  the  north  and 
to  the  north-east,  by  Phenice  and  Syria  ;  south  and  south- 
east, by  Arabia ;  and  west,  by  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
In  its  greatest  extent  it  is  only  about  one  hundred  and 
sixty  miles  long,  and  about  seventy  miles  broad.  Its  entire 
area  is  about  eleven  thousand  square  miles.  But  this 
little  country  was  the  birth-place  of  the  religion  that  was 
destined  to  conquer  the  world. 

In  its  physical  formation  Palestine  is  a  mountainous 
country.  In  the  north  rises  Lebanon,  from  which  two 
parallel  chains  of  mountains  extend  into  Galilee ;  from 
thence  an  almost  continuous  range  of  moderately  high 
hills  stretches  through  Samaria  and  Judea  to  the  southern 
border  of  the  country.  On  their  western  sides  they  slope 
gradually  down  towards  the  Mediterranean ;  but  on  the 
east,  in  the  direction  of  the  river  Jordan,  especially  in  the 

£ 


50 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


region  of  the  Dead  Sea,  the  descent  is  much  steeper. 
Beyond  the  Jordan  a  similar  mountain  range  stretches  in 
the  same  direction  through  the  country  from  north  to 
south.    Intervening  between  the  two  ranges,  and  also 
between  the  western  chain  and  the  Mediterranean,  are 
fertile  plains.     In  a  north-easterly  direction  from  the 
range  of  hills  called  Mount  Carmel,  is  another  large 
stretch  of  level  land  termed  the  Plain  of  Jezreel.  The 
Jordan  is  the  only  important  river  of  the  country ;  it  rises 
in  the  north,  and  after  forming  first  the  little  lake  Merom 
and,  a  few  miles  further  down,  the  large  lake  of  Gennes- 
aret,  sometimes  called  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  it  flows  through 
the,  for  the  most  part,  rich  pastoral  plain  of  the  Jordan 
between  the  two  above-mentioned  mountain  ranges,  and 
finally  loses  itself  in  the  Dead  Sea.    And  thus  Palestine 
with  its  succession  of  mountains,  and  plains,  and  hills, 
and  valleys,  is  a  land  which  presents  every  variety  of 
landscape  and  configuration  of  soil — the  most  diversified 
and  chequered  scenery  united  within  a  small  space.  This 
variety  in  the  physical  formation  of  the  country  necessarily 
gave  rise  to  various  callings  and  occupations  among  its 
inhabitants.    The  narrow  stretch  of  land  along  the  coast 
of  the  Mediterranean,  separated  from  the  interior  by  the 
mountains,  was  favourable   to  maritime  employments ; 
the  valleys  and  plains  were  suitable  for  agriculture ;  the 
slopes  of  the  mountains  also  admitted  of  the  cultivation 
of  crops,  but  were  especially  favourable  for  the  growth  of 
vines  and  figs.    The  steppes,  or  stretches  of  uncultivated 
country,  and  the  whole  south  of  Judea,  rendered  possible 
the  most  extensive  cattle  and  sheep  farming ;  and  even 
the  ridges  of  the  mountains  and  their  dechvities  afforded 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL, 


51 


rich  pasture  for  smaller  cattle  and  sheep.  The  land  was 
a  *  garden  of  God '  and  like  a  cornucopia  of  the  most 
manifold  productions  (Deut.  vii.  7-9).  In  several  places 
in  the  Old  Testament  it  is  called  a  "good  land,"  "flowing 
with  milk  and  honey,"  and  a  "  large  fat  land  "  (Exodus 
iii.  8,  Nehemiah  ix.  25-35,  Exodus  xiii.  5).  It  is  also 
described  by  Josephus  and  others  as  having  been  very 
productive  in  the  time  of  Jesus/^  But  its  blessings  were 
dependent  upon  attention,  care,  and  true  industry.  The 
clayey  or  sandy-marly  soil  required  thorough  culture,  and 
the  insufficiency  of  natural  springs  of  water  had  to  be 
remedied  by  artificial  irrigation,  and  by  great  care  of  the 
woods  and  forests.  When,  in  later  centuries,  instead  of 
the  diligent  cultivation  of  the  soil,  indolence  and  neglect 
prevailed,  the  ground  lost  its  fertility,  and  in  the  place  of 
the  once  blossoming  and  fruitful  fields  the  eye  sees  to-day 
only  bare  and  desolate  wastes.  The  extraordinary  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  country  explains  the  fact  that  in  former 
times  it  supported  an  immense  population.  It  is  con- 
sidered that  in  David's  time  there  may  have  been  as  many 
as  between  four  and  five  millions  living  in  this  little 
country,  and  at  the  time  of  Jesus  the  population  must 
have  been  nearly  or  quite  as  great.'*^ 

If  we  look  now  to  its  geographical  situation,  no  country 
could  have  been  more  adapted  than  Palestine  for  the  pur- 
pose which  in  the  order  of  Divine  Providence  it  was 
intended  to  fulfil,  that  is,  the  training  and  education  of  a 
people  of  God,  and  the  sending  forth  of  salvation  from 
them  to  all  the  world.  Separated  by  its  natural  forma- 
tion from  the  neighbouring  countries,  it  lay  at  the  same 
time  in  the  midst  of  the  ancient  civilization.  In  its  retired 


52 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


situation  it  was  like  a  vineyard  (Isaiah  v.),  fenced  in  and 
guarded  by  walls  and  hedges.  The  mountains  of  Lebanon^ 
the  Syrian  and  Arabian  deserts,  and  Arabia  Petraea  with 
its  rock-formations,  were  its  natural  barriers.  The  sea 
itself  shut  it  off,  because  the  strong  currents  running  off 
the  coast  were  a  hindrance  to  navigation,  and  the  har- 
bours were  held  by  foreigners.  In  addition  to  this  there 
were  no  water-ways  affording  facilities  for  commerce 
between  the  interior  and  the  outer  world,  since  the  Jordan 
was  by  its  formation  and  position  entirely  unadapted  for 
such  a  purpose.  Even  the  neighbouring  peoples,  who 
were  so  hostile  to  the  Jews  in  the  earlier  centuries  of  their 
history,  were  an  enclosure  round  about  them.  But  all 
the  same  the  country  was  near  the  centre  of  the  three 
divisions  of  the  ancient  civilized  world.  Four  great 
trading  thoroughfares  passed  near  its  borders  :  one  in  the 
north,  extending  from  the  Phenician  sea-port  towns  of 
Tyre  and  Sidon  to  Damascus  in  Syria,  and  thence  as  far 
as  the  Euphrates ;  a  second  in  the  east,  leading  from 
Damascus  into  Arabia ;  a  third  in  the  west,  from  Egypt 
into  Phenicia  and  Syria  ;  and  another  in  the  south,  passing 
from  Gaza  into  Egypt  and  thence  to  the  Persian  Gulf. 
Thus  Palestine  was  surrounded  by  the  most  noted  and 
advanced  peoples  of  antiquity,  Egyptians  and  Phenicians, 
Assyrians  and  Babylonians  ;  and  it  lay  right  in  the  path 
of  their  political  and  commercial  intercourse.  This  is 
proved  by  the  history  of  Eg}'pt,  Babylon,  and  Persia,  as 
well  as  by  the  condition  of  the  Jewish  people  in  every 
epoch.  The  country  was  most  fit  to  be  the  great  scene 
of  the  history  of  redemption  ;  the  people,  although 
separated  from  other  nations,  could  easily  enter  into  com- 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL.  53 


munication  with  them  and  propagate  their  faith  among 
them  ;  and  the  messengers  of  the  Gospel,  as  heralds  of 
salvation,  could  make  their  way  from  Palestine  into  all 
nations  and  all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  primitive  population  of  the  country  consisted  of 
the  famihes  of  the  twelve  sons  of  the  patriarch  Jacob, 
which  had  grown  into  strong  tribes.  But  the  course  of 
time,  and  especially  the  great  exile,  had  brought  many 
changes  and  vicissitudes,  and  much  intermixture  of 
famihes  and  tribes,  so  that  the  people  who  boasted  of 
their  ancestry  and  descent  were  after  all,  in  many  respects, 
a  different  race  from  those  of  David's  time.  This  was 
more  particularly  the  case  in  Samaria.^^  But  even  the 
inhabitants  of  Judea  and  Galilee  were  not  the  descendants 
of  the  whole  ten  tribes,  but  only  of  Judah  and  Benjamin, 
:who — with  the  exception  of  the  Priests  and  Levites — 
were  all  that  returned  from  captivity, and  of  the  remnant 
of  the  Jewish  people  who  had  remained  in  their  own 
land,  and  at  the  restoration  attached  themselves  to  the 
returning  exiles.^*^  Moreover  the  language  of  the  country 
was  of  a  different  character  from  what  it  once  had  been. 
The  ancient  Hebrew,  after  the  captivity,  gradually  ceased 
to  be  the  common  speech  of  the  people.  It  remained 
the  language  of  the  learned  and  of  religion  and  worship, 
but  had  to  be  translated  to  be  made  intelligible  to  the 
laity.  On  the  other  hand  the  Aramaic,  called  in  the  Bible 
Syrian,  had  since  the  time  of  the  Syrian  empire  been  more 
and  more  naturalized  in  Palestine.  Of  the  sacred  books, 
parts  of  Ezra  (from  chapter  iv.  8  to  vi.  i8,  and  vii.  12-26) 
and  Daniel  (chap.  ii.  4  to  vii.  28)  were  written  in  Aramaic. 
And  the  New  Testament  evi  dently  shows  that  in  the  time 


54 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESU5. 


of  Jesus  this  was  the  language  of  the  people,  for  it  is  full 
of  Aramaicisms,  such  as  :  Golgotha  (Matthew  xxvii.  33)  ; 
Abba  (Mark  xiv.  26)  ;  Messiah^  for  Meschiach  (John  i.  41) 
Kephas  (John  i.  42) ;  and  the  deeply-affecting  words  of 
Jesus  from  the  cross:  "Eli,  Eh,  lama  sabachthani 
(^Matthew  xxvii.  46). 

At  the  same  time  the  Greek  language  and  even  Greek 
customs  were  not  unknown  in  the  east  as  well  as  in  the 
west  of  the  country,  In  the  population  of  the  towns  on 
the  coast  the  Greek  element  preponderated ;  and  if  the 
mass  of  the  Jewish  people  had  but  a  slight  acquaintance 
with  Greek  it  was  certainly  known  to  the  higher  class  and 
the  educated.  The  chief  city  of  Samaria  bore  at  the  time 
of  Jesus  the  Greek  name  of  Sebaste.  It  had  a  Greek 
coinage  and  even  Greek  worship.  At  Tiberias  in  Galilee 
a  large  portion  of  the  population  was  of  Greek  nation- 
ahty.  In  Judea  itself,  and  especially  at  Jerusalem,  Greek 
was  well  known ;  and  Herod  had  many  Hellenes  at  his 
court.  Rome  carried  on  its  intercourse  with  Palestine  in 
the  Greek  language ;  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  the 
Imperial  coinage  was  stamped  in  Greek  (Matthew  xxii. 
19-21).  Numbers  of  Hellenistic  Jews,  Jewish  Proselytes,, 
and  even  Gentiles  (John  xii.  20)  came  up  to  the  temple. 
Indeed  the  Hellenists  had  their  ovsm  synagogue  in  Jerusa- 
lem, and  often  settled  residences  there  (iVcts  vi.  9,  comp. 
ix.  29).  And,  as  on  the  western  borders  of  the  country, 
Hellenistic  Oriental  heathenism  was  to  some  extent  estab- 
lished, the  Jewish  people  could  not  with  its  near  neigh- 
bourhood remain  ignorant  of  the  Greek  language,  nor  of 
Greek  religion  and  practice.  Nevertheless,  in  praise 
of  the  home-born  Jews,  it  must  be  said  that — of  course 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL.  55 

on  the  whole,  and  with  certain  exceptions  set  aside — they 
rigidly  held  aloof  from  heathenism,  and  adhered  strictly 
to  the  belief  and  practice  of  their  fathers.  To  prevent 
the  least  approach  to  idolatry  the  greatest  possible  stress 
was  laid  on  the  second  of  the  ten  commandments  (Exodus 
XX.  4,  5),  and  no  pictures  or  images  of  any  sort  or  of  any 
thing  were  permitted  in  the  temple.  The  Jews  were  not 
even  wilhng  that  the  Roman  ensigns  bearing  images  of 
the  emperor  should  be  brought  into  Jerusalem.^^  Inter- 
course with  the  heathens,  especially  on  the  feast  days, 
was  strictly  forbidden  to  the  Jews ;  and  also  the  use  of 
wines  made  by  heathens,  and  of  wood  from  the  groves  in 
which  idolatrous  rites  were  practised.  Any  communica-  * 
tion  or  contact  with  pagans  was  a  source  of  defilement 
(Acts  X.  28,  John  xviii.  28) ;  and  while  a  Jew  might  in 
case  of  need  invite  a  heathen  to  his  table,  it  was  held  to 
be  quite  illegal  to  sit  by  his  side,  to  eat,  or  keep  company 
with  him  (Acts  xi.  3,  Gal.  ii.  12).  The  rule  of  pagan 
Rome  was  regarded  as  unlawful,  and  one  of  the  most 
earnest  questions  of  the  period  was  whether  it  was  right 
to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar  or  not  (Matt.  xxii.  15-17,  Mark  xii. 
13-17,  Luke  XX.  20-26).  On  the  other  hand  it  was  a 
great  joy  to  the  Jew  to  make  one  heathen  a  proselyte  to 
his  religion  (Matthew  xxiii.  15). 

In  the  time  of  Jesus,  Palestine  was  no  longer  divided 
into  the  several  districts  which  were  once  occupied  by  the 
twelve  tribes ;  but  three  provinces  were  counted  on  this 
side  the  Jordan,  Judaea,  Samaria,  and  Galilee ;  and  beyond 
the  river  lay  Persea,  with  Batansea,  Trachonitis,  Auranitis, 
Gaulonitis  and  Itursea,  adjoining  it  on  the  north.  At  the 
time  when  Jesus  was  born  these  provinces  were  all  united 


56 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS", 


under  one  government  by  Herod  the  Great.    In  order  to 
'  obtain  a  clear  view  of  the  country  and  people  of  Palestine 
we  must  describe  these  provinces  more  particularly. 

The  most  southerly  of  the  three  provinces  lying  to  the 
west  of  the  Jordan  was  Judaea,  called  in  the  Scriptures 
"the  land  of  Judaea"  (John  iii.  22,  Luke  ii,  4,  Matt.  ii.  i). 
It  was  to  a  large  extent  a  hilly  district  (Luke  i.  65) ;  but 
the  hills  were  fruitful,  and  there  were  many  delightful 
valleys,  as  well  as  some  rocky  wildernesses.  It  was 
inhabited  by  the  most  pure  Jewish  race  in  Palestine, 
'  because  this  was  the  part  of  the  country  which  at  the 
return  from  captivity  was  first  peopled  again  by  'the  tribes 
'  of  Benjamin  and  Judah,  more  especially  the  latter,  for 
which  reason  it  was  named  Judaea,  and  the  whole  people 
from  that  period  were  called  Jews.  After  the  death  of 
Herod  the  Great,  Archelaus  inherited  it;  later  it  belonged 
to  the  Roman  province  of  Syria,  and  was  governed  by 
procurators  until  the  time  of  Agrippa  L,  who  again  united 
it  with  the  other  provinces  under  his  sceptre. 

The  province  of  Judaea,  and  especially  the  capital  city 
which  was  situated  in  it,  was  of  the  greatest  conse- 
quence and  importance  to  all  Israel.  Jerusalem  is  about 
twenty-four  miles  distant  from  the  north  shore  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  and  about  thirty-six  miles  from  the  sea-port  of  Joppa 
on  the  Mediterranean.  It  stands  upon  a  piece  of  high 
and  comparatively  level  table-land,  encompassed  on  three 
sides  by  deep  valleys ;  on  the  east  by  the  valley  of 
Jehoshaphat,  through  which  the  brook  Kidron  runs ;  on 
the  west  by  the  valley  of  Gihon,  and  on  the  south  by  that 
of  Ben  Hinnom,  both  traversed  by  the  stream  called 
Gihon,  which  runs  into  the  Kidron.    The  city  itself  is 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL.  57 


divided  into  two  parts  by  the  deep  depression  in  the  land 
called  the  Tyropoeon.  On  the  west  side  of  this  ravine 
stands  the  '  Upper  City,'  and  the  hill  called  Mount  Zion ; 
on  the  eastern  side  at  a  lower  elevation  is  Mount  Moriah, 
upon  which  the  Temple  was  built ;  bounded  on  the  south 
and  west  by  these  two  divisions  stands  Acra,  or  the  '  Lower 
City northward  from  Mount  Moriah  and  Acra  is  the 
*  New  City,'  called  Bezetha.  In  the  time  of  Jesus  two 
walls  surrounded  Jerusalem  ;  the  first,  w^hich  was  begun 
by  David,  enclosed  Zion  and  the  Temple  mount ;  the 
second,  which  was  built  by  Hezekiah,  took  in  also  a  part 
of  Acra.  A  third  was  erected  by  Herod  Agrippa  I.,  only 
thirty  years  before  the  destruction  of  the  city,  which 
encompassed  Bezetha  also. 

Narrow  lanes  and  wider  streets,  wretched  hovels  and 
splendid  buildings,  alternated  with  each  other.  Among 
the  more  important  of  the  latter  were  the  magnificent 
palace  of  Herod  the  Great  in  the  north-w^est  part  of  the 
Upper  City ;  the  theatre  in  the  southern  part  of  the  same 
locality,  erected  by  Herod  the  Great  in  opposition  to  the 
feelings  and  inherited  customs  of  the  Jews  ;  the  Xystus, 
a  pillared  court  or  colonnade,  and  the  council-house,  both 
of  which  were  near  the  Temple.  Some  think  that  in  the 
latter  building  the  Sanhedrin,  or  high  council  of  the 
nation,  held  their  sittings,  and  that  it  was  here  that  Jesus 
underwent  his  third  examination,  and  was  condemned  ; 
and  that  here  also  Paul  afterwards  had  to  stand  and  justify 
himself  before  the  whole  council  (Acts  xxii.  30,  xxiii.  i,  10). 
But  above  all  it  was  the  Temple  on  Mount  Moriah  which 
kindled  the  enthusiasm  and  love  of  all  Jewish  hearts.*^ 
It  had  been  rebuilt  on  a  magnificent  scale  by  Herod  the 


58 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


Great.  He  began  this  great  work  in  the  eighteenth  year 
of  his  reign  (b.c.  20),  but  owing  to  the  vast  extent  of  the 
labour  and  the  cost,  it  was  not  till  many  years  afterwards 
that  the  structure  was  finished.  At  the  end  of  ten  years 
however  it  was  sufficiently  complete  to  be  solemnly  dedi- 
cated for  Divine  Service.^^  From  that  period  down  to  the 
date  of  the  birth  of  Jesus,  and  all  through  his  life-time, 
and  until  shortly  before  the  destruction  of  both  city  and 
Temple,  hosts  of  workmen  were  employed  in  perfecting 
and  adorning  it.  Thus  the  Jews  could  truthfully  say  at 
our  Lord's  first  Passover  that  the  Temple  had  been  "forty- 
six  years  in  building,"  and  it  was  not  finished  even  then. 
Adjoining  the  Temple  was  the  fortress  of  Antonia,  which 
had  been  much  enlarged  and  strengthened  by  Herod,  who 
named  it  in  honour  of  his  friend  the  Roman  general,  Mark 
Antony.  Here  in  all  probability  was  the  Praetorium,  or 
"hall  of  judgment,"  (unless  indeed  they  are  right  who 
think  that  it  was  in  Herod's  palace  °^),  where  Jesus  was 
brought  before  Pilate  (Mark  xv.  16,  John  xviii.  28),  and 
whence  he  was  led  by  command  of  Pilate  to  appear  before 
Herod  at  his  palace  in  the  Upper  City,  only  to  be  sent 
back  again  and  afterwards  led  forth  to  his  crucifixion  at 
Golgotha.  The  fortress  was  occupied  by  a  strong  Roman 
garrison,  because  it  commanded  the  Temple  and  the  city 
alike ;  and  it  was  hither  that  the  Roman  soldiers  carried 
Paul  whom  they  had  seized  in  the  midst  of  the  uproar  in 
the  Temple  court,  thus  rescuing  him  from  the  mob,  who 
would  soon  have  beaten  him  to  death  (Acts  xxi.  31,  32). 

To  the  east  of  Jerusalem,  opposite  the  Temple  mount 
and  on  the  other  side  of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  is  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  with  Gethsemane  lying  at  the  foot  of  it, 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL.  5^ 

on  the  side  facing  the  City  and  near  the  brook  Kidron. 
On  a  spur  of  the  mountain,  to  the  south  of  it,  was  the 
ancient  Bethphage  ;  and  about  a  mile  further  on,  on  the 
road  leading  to  Jericho,  was  the  village  of  Bethany. 
Bethlehem  was  situated  about  six  miles  to  the  southward 
of  the  city.  The  supposed  site  of  the  village  of  Emmaus 
is  about  seven  and  a  half  miles  in  a  north-westerly  direc- 
tion, but  its  true  position  has  not  been  determined. 
Jericho  was  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  City,  on  the 
north-eastern  road. 

Jerusalem  itself,  at  the  time  of  Jesus,  presented  a  very 
lively  scene  of  human  activity  and  exertion.  The  migra- 
tory habits  of  the  Jews,  and  the  trade  with  their  co- 
religionists abroad,  must  have  contributed  very  largely  to 
the  life  and  stir  of  the  city,  especially  at  the  times  when 
the  great  feasts  were  held.  Delitzsch,  in  his  "Artizan 
Life  in  the  Time  of  Jesus,"  and  Pressel,  in  his  "  Priscilla  to 
Sabina,"  have  sketched  for  us  a  very  lively  picture  of  the 
aspect  of  affairs  in  particular  spheres  of  activity,  more  par- 
ticularly among  the  labouring  classes.  During  the  six 
working-days  the  city  might  have  been  compared  to  an 
enormous  bee-hive,  in  which  all  is  movement  and  industry. 
In  the  houses  and  in  front  of  them  sawing  and  hammering,, 
slaughtering  and  cooking,  weaving  and  washing, — all  sorts 
of  labour  were  carried  on.  Swarms  of  people  from  town 
and  country  crowded  about  the  shops,  open  to  the  street, 
and  along  the  rows  of  stalls,  where  meat  and  vegetables, 
bread  and  wine,  clothes  and  shoes,  as  well  as  the  finer 
productions,  such  as  carpets  and  curtains,  spices  and  per- 
fumery, were  to  be  purchased.  Barbers'  shops  and  bath- 
houses, wine-taverns,  eating-houses,  and  the  teaching- 


60 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


rooms  of  Rabbis  resounded  with  the  confused  medley  of 
cheerful  and  earnest  voices.  Most  trades  and  occupa- 
tions might  be  carried  on  in  the  midst  of  the  city,  but 
some  had  their  own  localities.  The  potters  were  on  the 
south  side  of  the  city,  the  fullers  on  the  west  side,  and 
.  the  tanners  had  their  workshops  still  further  off,  out- 
side the  city.  Business  and  professional  life  was  regulated 
by  strict  order.  The  men  of  the  various  trades  and 
businesses  formed  separate  classes  and  unions  among 
themselves,  each  being  strictly  bound  by  its  own  statutes 
and  regulations.  Labour  was  held  in  such  high  respect 
among  the  Jews  that  every  scholar  must  follow  some  trade 
or  occupation,  and  the  plainest  tradesman  or  mechanic 
might  become  an  elder  in  the  congregation,  or  indeed 
attain  to  a  seat  and  a  vote  in  the  supreme  council  itself. 

The  religious  life  of  the  people  was  very  manifest  in  the 
City.  Not  only  the  inhabitants  of  the  promised  land,  but 
the  scattered  Jewish  people  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
came  up  to  the  Temple  at  the  great  festivals  to  serve  the 
Lord  in  His  house  (Luke  ii.  42,  Acts  ii.  8-1 1) ;  so  that  it 
is  thought  as  many  as  three  million  visitors  may  sometimes 
have  been  present  on  such  occasions.^^  These  Jewish 
pilgrims  not  only  stimulated  the  rehgious  life  of  the  people, 
but  also  contributed  large  sums  to  the  treasury  of  the 
Temple,  and  were  the  source  of  much  profit  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  city.  If,  however,  the  strangers  were 
always  extremely  numerous  at  the  feasts,  they  were  at  all 
times  coming  and  going,  for  there  was  never  any  end  to  the 
pilgrimages.  In  Jerusalem  the  Jew  found  what  he  most 
desired ;  besides  the  Temple,  here  were  numerous  Syna- 
gogues, in  which  the  Law  was  read  and  expounded,  and 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL.  61 

common  prayer  was  daily  offered  (Acts  vi.  9) ;  here  were 
the  institutions  of  learning  in  which  the  highest  knowledge 
that  Judaism  had  to  impart  was  to  be  obtained ;  and  here 
was  the  Sanhedrin,  the  spiritual  court  of  final  appeal  for 
the  Jews  of  all  the  world.  Jerusalem  was  the  spot  in 
which  every  nerve  and  fibre  of  Jewish  life  throbbed  and 
pulsated. 

In  the  country  parts  of  Judaea  life  was  of  course  much 
quieter.  There  the  shepherds  pastured  their  flocks,  the 
herdsmen  tended  their  cattle,  and  the  husbandmen  culti- 
vated their  fields  and  vineyards ;  trade  was  naturally  of 
secondary  importance.  Nevertheless,  to  the  countryman 
also,  "  Jehovah  and  His  Temple  "  were  objects  of  the  most 
sacred  regard  ;  and  one  of  his  chief  efforts  was  to  imprint 
the  Law  which  had  been  handed  down  to  him  upon  the 
minds  of  the  young,  and  to  train  them  in  its  precepts.  It 
must  be  said,  however,  along  with  much  ceremonial  piety, 
much  superstition  and  disorder  also  existed  among  the 
people.  Some  did  not  shrink  from  deeds  of  violence,  and 
were  not  above  enriching  themselves  by  plundering  travel- 
lers. In  war  they  were  full  of  fanatical  zeal ;  and  hence 
it  was  that  Herod  built  some  of  his  strongest  fortresses  to 
overawe  the  provincial  Jews. 

The  life  of  Christ  is  very  closely  connected  with  Judaea. 
He  was  born  in  the  little  city  of  Bethlehem,  lying  a  few 
miles  to  the  south  of  Jerusalem.  From  the  twelfth  year 
of  his  age  (Luke  ii.  42)  he  was  often  in  the  capital  city 
and  its  temple.  St.  John  especially  tells  us  of  his  journeys 
to  the  great  festivals,  and  of  his  work  in  Jerusalem  ;  and, 
like  the  other  Evangelists,  describes  what  took  place  there 
at  the  time  of  his  passion  and  death. 


62 


IX  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


The  middle  province  of  the  country,  west  of  the  Jordan, 
was  called  Samaria.  It  was  a  pleasant  district  of  about 
one  thousand  square  miles  in  extent,  having  many  fertile 
meadows,  and  woods  of  oak,  ohve,  and  nut-trees.  On  the 
hills  and  sides  of  the  mountains  agriculture  and  cattle  and 
sheep  farming  were  carried  on  ;  near  the  western  borders 
of  the  province  there  was  a  flourishing  commerce,  and  the 
people  were  in  active  communication  with  foreign  lands. 
Like  Judaea  this  province  was  at  first  one  of  the  dominions 
of  Herod  the  Great,  and  afterwards  of  his  son  Archelaus, 
but  in  a  few  years  it  shared  the  fate  of  Judaea,  and  was 
made  a  part  of  the  Roman  province  of  Syria.  The  Sama- 
ritans were  the  descendants  of  that  mixed  race  who  were 
formed  by  the  blending  together  of  the  Israelites  who 
remained  in  the  land  when  the  great  bulk  of  the  people 
were  carried  into  captivity,  and  those  colonists  who  were 
transplanted  into  Palestine  from  the  Assyrian  provinces  by 
Shalmaneser  and  Esarhaddon  (Ezra  iv.  2).  These  heathen 
immigrants  by  degrees  associated  themselves  with  the 
religious  fellowship  of  the  Jews  (2  Kings  xvii.  24-28). 
■\Mien  the  restoration  took  place  the  Samaritans  would 
vvillingly  have  joined  themselves  with  the  returning  exiles, 
and  have  taken  part  in  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  and 
the  religious  worship  at  Jerusalem  (Ezra  iv.) ;  but  the 
Jews  repelled  them,  and  in  resentment  for  this  rejection 
they  did  all  they  could  to  hinder  the  re-building  of  the 
Temple  and  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  (Nehemiah  iv.)  The 
bitterness  between  the  two  parties  soon  grew  to  open  hos- 
tility, and  the  inhabitants  of  Samaria,  under  Sanballat  and 
Manasseh,  built  their  own  temple  to  Jehovah  on  Mount 
Gerizim,  near  their  chief  city  of  Shechem^ ;  after  standing 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOFLE  OF  ISRAEL.  63 

two  hundred  years  it  was  destroyed  by  John  Hyrcanus. 
But  although  the  Sanctuary  had  fallen,  the  spot  continued 
even  down  to  the  time  of  Jesus  to  be,  in  the  estimation  of 
the  Samaritans,  the  place  where  men  ought  to  worship 
(John  iv.  20).  Their  rehgion  was  an  enfeebled  Mosaism; 
they  accepted  as  sacred  records  only  the  Pentateuch,  and 
rejected  all  tradition  and  all  pharisaical  rules.  Yet  they 
also,  as  w^ll  as  the  Jews,  expected  a  Messiah  (John  iv.  25), 
and  it  is  well  known  that  many  of  them  became  converts 
to  Christianity  (Acts  viii.  5-12,  ix.  31,  xv.  3). 

The  Samaritans  in  general  seem  to  have  been  more 
gentle  in  nature  and  character  than  the  Jews.  Our  Lord 
does  them  full  justice,  and  in  the  parable  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  has  left  a  lasting  monument  of  their  humanity 
(Luke  X.  30  and  xvii.  16).  But  the  old  hatred  between 
Jews  and  Samaritans  was  not  yet  extinct  (John  viii.  48). 
When  Jews  from  other  parts  of  the  country  had  occasion 
to  pass  through  Samaria,  they  often  met  with  an  unfriendly 
reception  at  the  inns  (Luke  ix.  53) ;  or  the  travellers  were 
scoffed  at,  and  sometimes  involved  in  wrangles  and  fights.^' 
For  this  reason,  and  because  the  Samaritans  were  held  to 
be  'unclean'  through  their  large  admixture  of  heathen 
blood,  all  association  with  them  w^as,  as  much  as  possible, 
avoided  by  the  Jews.  In  order  not  to  pass  through 
Samaria  on  their  journeys  to  the  Temple,  the  Galileans 
often  took  a  circuitous  route — as  Jesus  himself  sometimes 
did — generally  through  Peraea,  along  the  plain  of  the 
Jordan  on  the  eastern  side,  and  by  way  of  Jericho  (Luke 
xix.  i) ;  and  as  a  rule  the  inhabitants  of  Judaea,  on  their 
part,  did  the  same  when  they  had  occasion  to  travel  to  the 
north.    This  enmity  between  Jews  and  Samaritans  is,  of 


64 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


course,  the  explanation  of  the  question  which  the  woman 
put  to  Jesus  at  Jacob's  well  :  "  How  is  it  that  thou,  being 
a  Jew,  askest  drink  of  me,  which  am  a  woman  of  Samaria  ?" 
(John  iv.  9) ;  and  of  the  surprise  of  the  disciples  that 
the  Master  should  be  found  talking  with  her  (John  i v.  27). 
That  Jesus  did  not  share  the  common  Jewish  prejudice  is 
shown  by  his  journeys  through  the  midst  of  Samaria  (Luke 
xvii.  11),  and  his  sending  forth  his  disciples  as  preachers 
of  the  gospel  into  this  very  district,  after  the  Pentecost 
(Acts  i.  8). 

Lying  to  the  north  of  Samaria  was  the  province  of 
Galilee,  which  was  divided  into  two  districts.  Upper  and 
Lower  Galilee.  Upper  Galilee,  "Galilee  of  the  Gentiles" 
(Matthew  iv.  15)  is  a  wild  and  rugged  district,  where  in 
the  most  diversified  manner  mountains  and  valleys  alter- 
nate with  each  other  ;  a  country  that  was  almost  impass- 
able, and  whose  interior  was  therefore  avoided  as  much 
as  possible  by  the  great  trading  routes.  Far  more  favour- 
able than  this  region  for  cultivation  and  travel  was  the 
so-called  Lower  Galilee,  which  lay  to  the  south  of  it,  and 
may  be  said  to  have  begun  at  the  road  called  the  via  maris, 
which  ran  from  Accho  (St.  Jean  d'Acre)  to  Capernaum  on 
the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  where  Matthew  sat  at  the  "  receipt  of 
custom."  It  is  less  elevated  than  Upper  Galilee,  and 
characterized  by  a  range  of  large  table-lands,  which 
succeed  one  another  somewhat  in  the  form  of  terraces, 
and  with  more  or  less  steepness  fall  off  towards  the  east 
and  south.  Galilee  belonged  to  the  more  fertile  portions 
of  Palestine,  and  was  rich  in  excellent  agricultural  land, 
in  verdant  meadows  and  forests  of  oaks,  carob  trees 
(St.  John's  bread),  and  mulberry  trees.     The  most 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL.  65 

beautiful  and  charming  part  of  it  was  undoubtedly  the 
strip  of  country  lying  along  the  western  shore  of  the  Sea 
of  Galilee — the  '  Sea  of  Tiberias,'  or  the  '  Lake  of  Gen- 
nesaret,'  as  it  is  variously  called — a  district  where  all  kinds 
of  corn  produced  plentiful  crops,  and  where  figs,  grapes, 
and  other  fruits  could  be  gathered  during  ten  months  of 
the  year  without  cessation. 

After  the  death  of  Herod  the  Great,  Galilee  was 
governed  by  Herod  Antipas,  who  was  succeeded  by 
Agrippa  I. ;  but,  like  Judaea  and  Samaria,  it  was  in  a  short 
time  united  with  the  Roman  province  of  Syria. 

Its  Jewish  population  after  the  captivity  was  largely 
intermixed  with  heathen  elements,  whence  the  name 
*  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles  and  even  at  the  time  of  Jesus 
it  contained  large  numbers  of  Phenicians,  Arabians^ 
Syrians,  and  Greeks.  The  total  number  of  inhabitants 
was  very  great,  and  Josephus^^  counts  two  hundred  and 
four  Galilean  townships,  of  which  the  smallest  is  said  to 
have  had  a  population  of  more  than  fifteen  thousand.. 
The  industrious  and  energetic  people  were  chiefly  occu- 
pied in  agriculture  and  trade  with  neighbouring  countries. 
Josephus  was  able  to  boast  that  Gahlee  was  never  defi- 
cient in  men,  that  the  men  were  never  wanting  in  courage, 
and  that  cowardice  was  never  a  characteristic  of  Gali- 
leans but  they  were  much  given  to  change,  and  fond 
of  sedition  and  tumult  (compare  Luke  xiii.  i,  Acts  v.  37). 
If  the  people,  moreover,  were  loyal  to  the  Temple,  and 
regularly  went  up  in  great  numbers  to  the  feasts  at 
Jerusalem  (Luke  ii.  44),  they  were  at  the  same  time  more 
independent  in  matters  of  religion  than  the  inhabitants  of 
Judaea.    The  Pharisees  had  less  influence  in  Galilee  than 

V 


66 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


1 


in  Judaea,  although  some  of  them  occasionally  went  to 
the  north  as  missionaries  (Matthew  xv.  i).  Owing  to  his 
corrupt  provincial  dialect,  the  Galilean  was  always  known 
by  his  speech  ;  and  hence  when  Peter  denied  his  Master, 
they  that  stood  by  said,  "  Thou  art  a  Galilean,  and  thy 
speech  agreeth  thereto  "  (Mark  xiv.  70).  On  account  of 
their  inferior  education,  and  also  because  of  their  inter- 
course with  the  heathens,  which  exposed  them  to  the 
charge  of  '  uncleanness,'  the  Galileans  were  despised  by 
the  rest  of  the  Jews  (compare  John  i.  46,  vii.  52  ;  Acts 
ii.  7). 

The  great  distinction  of  this  province  was  that  Jesus 
was  of  Gahlee  (Matthew  xxvi.  69).  In  Nazareth  the  boy 
Jesus  grew  up,  and  here  was  the  home  of  that  wonderful 
childhood  (John  iv.  44,  Matthew  ii.  23).  His  disciples 
were  mostly  Gahleans  (Acts  i.  11,  ii.  7);  at  Cana  in 
Galilee  he  wrought  his  first  miracle  (John  ii.) ;  and  at  the 
gate  of  Nain,  another  Galilean  city,  he  restored  a  dead 
son  to  his  sorrowing  mother  (Luke  vii.  11).  In  Caper- 
naum, on  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret,  he  dwelt  often  and 
gladly,  so  that  it  is  called  "his  own  city"  (Matthew  ix.  i); 
and  altogether  he  seems  to  have  loved  the  charming  dis- 
trict on  the  west  side  of  the  Galilean  Lake,  and  made  it 
the  scene  of  "  most  of  his  mighty  works  "  (Matthew  xi.  20). 
The  three  first  evangelists  have  much  to  tell  us  about  his 
words  and  deeds  in  this  region. 

The  districts  of  Palestine  lying  east  of  the  Jordan  were 
far  inferior  to  those  we  have  described.  The  country 
there  had  not  the  natural  beauties,  nor  the  soil  the  pro- 
ductiveness of  the  other  provinces.  The  rugged  and 
unfruitful  Persea  contained  but  few  inhabitants,  and  was 


THE  LAND  AND  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ISRAEL.  G7 


of  value  chiefly  as  a  barrier  against  the  Arabians.  It  was 
with  an  eye  to  the  latter  advantage  that  Herod  the  Great 
and  Herod  Antipas  erected  the  strong  fortress  of  Mach- 
aerus,  in  which  it  is  probable  that  John  the  Baptist  met 
his  tragical  fate  (Matthew  xiv.  3).  The  broad  northern 
section  of  the  country  east  of  the  Jordan  formed  the  dis- 
tricts called  Gaulonitis,  Auranitis,  Trachonitis,  Ituraea, 
and  Batanaea.  This  region  contained  a  good  deal  of 
inferior  agricultural  land,  some  extensive  grazing  grounds, 
and  a  large  number  of  caves.  The  inhabitants  were  rude 
and  uncultivated,  and  loved  to  spend  their  lives  as  a  war- 
like and  nomadic  race,  without  fixed  dwelling  places  or 
settled  occupation  of  the  land. 

They  often  engaged  in  marauding  expeditions,  and  con- 
cealed their  booty  in  the  extensive  rocky  caverns,  which 
were  at  the  same  time  a  refuge  for  themselves  from  their 
enemies.  Herod  marched  against  them,  and  was  able  in 
some  degree  to  reduce  them  to  order  by  the  power  of  the 
sword  and  by  settling  Jewish  and  Idumean  colonists 
among  them.  Everywhere  in  these  districts  the  Jewish 
population  was  numerous,  but  was  largely  intermixed  with 
Syrian  and  Greek  elements,  and  these  were  only  held  in 
connection  with  Judaea  by  Herod's  government.  After 
his  death  Persea,  with  Galilee,  formed  the  dominion  of 
Herod  Antipas,  and  shared  the  fate  of  the  latter  pro- 
vince ;  the  northern  districts  were  made  the  dominions  of 
Herod  Philip,  and  at  a  later  period  became  the  possess- 
ions of  Agrippa  I. 

Such  was  the  country  and  such  the  people  in  whose 
midst  our  Lord  hved.  If  Rome  was  the  centre  of  the 
political  dominion  of  the  world,  Palestine  was  the  land 


68 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


from  which  the  hfe  and  power  of  religion  was  to  go  forth 
to  all  the  nations.  As  a  State,  at  the  time  of  Jesus,  it  was 
dependent  on  Rome  ;  its  princes  were  but  vassals  of  the 
supreme  authority  ;  the  time  soon  came  when  the  govern- 
ment was  more  immediately  administered  by  Roman 
officials,  and  at  last  the  Roman  sword  deprived  the  land 
of  its  relative  independence.  Hence  we  have  next  to 
consider  the  political  condition  of  the  country,  and  in 
order  that  we  may  have  a  clear  understanding  of  the  state 
of  affairs  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  we  must  go  back  somewhat 
in  its  history. 


II. 

The  Political  Government  of  Palestine. 

After  the  death  of  Alexander  the  Great  (b.c.  323) 
Palestine  remained  under  the  mild  and  peaceful  rule  of 
the  Ptolemies,  kings  of  Egypt,  down  to  the  year  203. 
But  when  the  Syrians,  under  Antiochus  the  Great  (died 
B.C.  187),  had  wrested  the  country  from  the  kingdom  of 
Egypt,  the  Jews  were  cruelly  oppressed.  Antiochus  him- 
self was  humane  ;  but  his  son  and  successor,  Seleucus 
Philopater  (died  B.C.  175),  to  supply  himself  with  money, 
ordered  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  to  be  plundered  of  its 
treasures  ;  and  Antiochus  Epiphanes  (died  B.C.  164)  made 
use  of  the  most  atrocious  means  to  compel  the  Jews  ta 
deny  their  religion  and  adopt  in  place  of  it  Greek  pagan- 


■I  THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  69 

ism.  In  this  time  of  violent  persecution  and  distress  the 
Jewish  Priest  Mattathias,  of  the  race  of  the  Asmoneans, 
Avith  his  five  brave  sons  and  a  multitude  of  Jews  filled 
with  the  same  spirit,  revolted  against  the  tyrant.  After 
the  death  of  the  father  (b.c.  i66)  his  eldest  son,  Judas 
Maccabeus,^  in  a  rapid  series  of  victories,  succeeded  in 
driving  back  the  Syrians  and  restoring  the  worship  of 
Jehovah  in  the  Temple.  At  length,  after  many  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune,  and  after  the  death  of  Judas  (b.c.  i6o), 
and  his  brother  Jonathan  (b.c  143),  Simon,  the  third 
brother,  was  able  to  capture  Mount  Zion,  which  had 
been  still  held  by  the  Syrians,  and  to  secure  for  his 
people  religious  and  pohtical  freedom  (b.c.  141).  In 
gratitude  to  the  ^Maccabees  the  people  decreed  that 
the  hereditary  rank  of  Prince  and  High  Priest  should 
belong  to  him  and  his  descendants,  "  until  there  should 
arise  a  faithful  prophet"  (I.  Maccabees  xiv.  41).  When 
Simon  had  been  treacherously  murdered  by  his  son-in-law 
Ptolemeus  at  a  banquet  in  Jericho  (b.c.  135),  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son  John  Hyrcanus  (b.c.  135-105),  who 
not  only  made  himself  entirely  independent  of  Syria,  but 
by  the  conquest  of  Idumea  and  Samaria  greatly  enlarged 
the  Jewish  territory  and  gained  great  distinction  for  his 
country.  His  son  and  successor,  Aristobulus  I.  (b.c.  105- 
104)  assumed  the  title  of  king,  but  it  was  under  him 
that  the  decline  of  the  Jewish  State  began.  The  spirit  of 
the  first  Maccabees  was  lost :  internal  conflicts  and 
quarrels,  the  worldliness  of  the  princely  family  and  the 
people,  and  wars  with  neighbouring  countries  slowly 
brought  on  the  end.  After  the  turbulent  reigns  of  Alex- 
ander Jannaeus,  the  brother  of  Aristobulus  I.  (b.c.  104- 


70 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


78),  and  his  consort  Alexandra,  who  succeeded  him 
(b.c.  78 — 69),  their  two  sons,  Aristobulus  II.  (died  B.C.  49) 
and  Hyrcanus  II.  (died  B.C.  30) — the  nephews  of  Aristo- 
bulus I. — contended  for  the  supremacy,  and  both  of  them 
sent  ambassadors  to  the  Roman  Pompey,  at  that  time  in 
Damascus,  requesting  him  to  decide  between  them. 
Pompey  promised  to  come  to  Jerusalem  himself.  Aristo- 
bulus, fearing  some  evil  design,  prepared  for  resistance. 
But  Pompey  conquered  Jerusalem  on  a  Sabbath  day, 
tlirew  down  the  walls  of  the  city,  and  entered  the  Tem- 
ple ;  leaving  the  treasury,  however,  untouched,  and  even 
taking  measures  for  the  undisturbed  continuance  of 
Divine  Service  (b.c.  63).  He  made  the  weak  Hyrcanus 
II.  High  Priest  and  civil  governor,  but  under  tribute  to 
Rome  and  over  a  much  reduced  territory.  Aristobulus 
was  carried  to  Rome  to  grace  the  conqueror's  triumph 
(b.c.  61)."  Henceforth  the  Hberties  of  the  Jews  were 
lost,  and  the  country  became  a  feudal  State  under  the 
Roman  Empire. 

After  a  few  years  of  peace  the  country  was  several 
times  thrown  into  an  uproar  by  Alexander  the  son  of 
Aristobulus,  by  Aristobulus  himself,  who  had  escaped 
from  Rome,  and  by  his  other  son  Antigonus  ;  but  their 
efforts  to  obtain  power  were  all  in  vain.  During  this  time 
(B.C.  63-40)  Hyrcanus  II.  bore  the  title  of  High  Priest ; 
but  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  clever  and  energetic  Idumean 
Antipater  had  managed  to  get  the  control  of  things  into 
his  own  hands  ;  and  indeed  Julius  Caesar  had  recognized 
his  services  by  making  him  coadjutor  to  Hyrcanus,  and 
transferring  to  him  an  important  share  of  the  government 
with  the  title  of  procurator  of  Judaea  (b.c.  47).  Soon 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  71 

afterwards  Antipater  nominated  his  sons  Phasael  and 
Herod  as  commandants  of  Judaea  and  Galilee.  When 
Caesar,  who  had  won  the  good-will  of  the  Jews  by  various 
favours,  had  been  murdered  in  the  year  B.C.  44,  and 
Antipater  a  year  later  had  shared  the  same  fate,  the 
younger  son  Herod  held  at  first  with  Cassius,  and  after 
his  death  (b.c.  42)  with  Antony,  and  as  a  reward  was 
made  by  the  latter  Tetrarch  of  Judaea.  Antigonus,  the 
son  of  Aristobulus  II.,  now  bestirred  himself  again,  and 
at  the  head  of  a  Parthian  army  invaded  Palestine.  Herod 
made  good  his  escape,  but  Hyrcanus  and  Phasael  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  victor.  The  first  had  his  ears  cut  off,  in 
order  that  being  mutilated  he  might  be  incapable  of  again 
taking  the  office  of  High  Priest,  and  the  second  dashed 
out  his  own  brains  against  the  wall  of  his  prison.  Thus 
Antigonus  got  possession  of  the  reins  of  government 
(b.c.  40-37) ;  but  during  his  short  rule  Herod  was  not 
inactive.  He  betook  himself  to  Rome,  and  there  laid 
his  complaints  before  Antony,  and  as  a  result  was  by  his 
influence,  with  the  consent  of  Octavius,  appointed  by  the 
Senate  "  King  of  Judaea"  (b.c.  40).  With  the  help  of  the 
Roman  legions  he  first  subdued  Galilee,  and  in  the  year 
B.C.  37  conquered  Jerusalem,  and  thus  obtained  actual 
possession  of  his  dominion.  Antigonus  was  by  command 
of  Antony  put  to  death  at  Antioch  (b.c.  37). 

Herod,  called  "  The  Great,"  was  king  of  Judaea  from 
the  year  37  to  4  before  the  Christian  era,  and  it  was  in 
his  reign  that  Jesus  was  born  (Matthew  ii.  i).  The  first 
years  of  his  reign  (b.c.  37-25)  were  passed  in  endeavours 
to  consohdate  and  secure  his  kingdom.  The  people 
endured  him  reluctantly  as  a  half-foreign  prince  who  had 


72 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


bean  forced  upon  them  by  the  power  of  the  Romans. 
The  Pharisees  especially  earnestly  exerted  themselves 
against  him ;  but  Herod  did  not  shrink  from  scenes  of 
bloodshed,  and  forty-five  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  the 
country  were  executed.  At  the  same  time  he  won  over 
some  of  the  more  docile  among  the  people,  by  bestowing 
favours  upon  them.  The  most  horrible  crime  which 
stained  the  first  period  of  his  reign  was  his  murder  of  his 
wife's  relations,  by  which  he  put  an  end  to  the  Asmonean 
race.  The  tragedy  opened  with  the  death  of  Aristobulus 
III.  Since  Hyrcanus  II.,  who  had  returned  from  cap- 
tivity, was  ineligible  for  the  office  of  High  Priest  through 
baing  maimed,  Herod  had  raised  to  that  dignity  a  cer- 
tain Ananeel,  a  member  of  the  priestly  family.  But 
Alexandra,  daughter  of  Hyrcanus  II.  and  mother  of  Herod's 
consort  Mariamne,  successfully  used  her  influence  to 
have  Ananeel  deposed  from  office,  and  her  son,  the  young 
Aristobulus,  the  grandson  of  Hyrcanus,  appointed  in  his 
place,  according  to  ancient  hereditary  right.  When,  at 
the  next  feast  of  Tabernacles  (b.c.  35),  the  youthful  High 
Priest  stood  up  before  the  assembled  people,  and  was 
greeted  with  enthusiastic  cheers,  Herod  recognized  in  him 
his  most  dangerous  rival ;  and  his  death  was  now  a  fore- 
gone conclusion.  Only  a  few  days  later  the  king  and  the 
High  Priest  were  together  guests  of  Alexandra  in  Jericho. 
When  Aristobulus,  after  the  repast,  was  with  others  taking 
a  bath,  Herod's  friends,  under  the  pretence  of  a  practical 
joke,  held  him  forcibly  so  long  under  the  water  that  he 
was  drowned.  Accused  of  this  murder  before  Antony, 
Herod  was  acquitted,  but  had  scarcely  returned  from 
Rome  when  he  caused  his  uncle  Joseph,  whom  he  accused 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  73 

of  improper  conduct  with  Mariamne,  to  be  executed, 
without  even  hearing  him  in  his  own  defence.  The  harm- 
less Hyrcanus,  now  eighty  years  of  age,  was  not  spared 
(b.c.  30) ;  and  even  the  passionately-loved  Mariamne  her- 
self fell  a  victim  to  his  suspicion  (b.c.  29).  His  mother- 
in-law  Alexandra  soon  met  with  the  same  fate  (b.c.  28). 
And  when  at  last  (b.c.  25)  he  discovered  concealed  with 
his  brother-in-law  Costobarus,  husband  of  his  sister 
Salome,  the  sons  of  Babas,  distant  relations  of  the 
Asmonean  family,  whom  he  had  long  sought  for  in  vain, 
he  had  them  put  to  death  and  their  protector  with  them, 
and  now  felt  secure  in  the  certainty  that  no  Asmonean 
would  endanger  his  possession  of  the  throne. 

To  these  domestic  miseries  was  added  disaster  from 
without.  Herod  was  compelled  to  give  up  to  Cleopatra, 
queen  of  Eg)'pt — who  exercised  a  controlling  influence 
over  her  admirer  and  his  patron,  Antony — a  valuable  part 
of  his  dominions,  the  fertile  district  of  Jericho.  And,  as 
if  this  were  not  enough,  he  was  obliged  to  collect  the 
tribute  money  in  the  lost  province,  and  deliver  it  to  the 
queen,  who  also  involved  him  in  a  war  with  the  Arabians, 
from  which  he  only  returned  victorious  after  many  dis- 
asters (b.c.  31). 

The  fall  of  his  patron  Antony,  who  was  completely 
overthrown  in  the  battle  of  Actium  (b.c.  31),  seemed  to 
be  the  crowning  misfortune  of  Herod's  life,  and  left  him 
in  the  hands  of  the  victor,  the  all-powerful  Octavius.  But 
with  the  cleverness  which  was  natural  to  him,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  making  a  friend  of  Octavius  on  the  island  of 
Rhodes.  Not  only  did  the  new  patron  confirm  him  in  his 
kingdom,  but  greatly  enlarged  it  by  the  restoration  of  the 


74 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


province  which  he  had  been  compelled  to  abdicate  in 
favour  of  Cleopatra,  and  the  addition  of  the  sea-ports 
from  Gaza  to  Csesarea,  besides  Gadara,  Hippos,  and  the 
city  of  Samaria  in  the  interior.  After  his  dominions  had 
been  still  further  enlarged  and  completed,  the  limits  of 
Judaea  extended  further  than  they  have  ever  done  before 
or  since — from  the  Mediterranean  Sea  to  Syria,  and  from 
Damascus  to  Egypt. 

Herod  was  now  at  the  height  of  his  power,  and  the 
next  twelve  years  of  his  reign  were  a  period  of  prosperity 
at  home  and  quietness  abroad,  which  he  knew  how  to 
make  use  of,  not  only  to  establish  himself  in  the  favour  of 
Augustus,  but  also  to  imitate  him  in  the  great  works  of 
peace.  By  a  series  of  magnificent  public  works  he  gave 
Palestine  an  Augustan  age.  He  erected  a  theatre  in 
Jerusalem,  where  hitherto  only  sacrifice  and  prayer  had 
attracted  men ;  and  outside  the  city  a  Roman  amphi- 
theatre of  enormous  circumference.  War  games  in  hon- 
our of  the  emperor  were  introduced  ;  Roman  gladiators, 
charioteers,  and  players  filled  the  city  which  had  been 
consecrated  to  God ;  wild  beasts  were  brought  in  to 
enhance  the  attractions  of  the  festive  combats.  He  forti- 
fied the  citadel  of  Antonia,  and  built  for  himself  a  mag- 
nificent palace  in  the  upper  city.  When  he  had  finished 
these  great  works  in  Jerusalem,  he  made  a  fortified  place 
of  the  ancient  city  of  Samaria,  built  a  temple  in  it,  and 
decreed  that  henceforth  it  should  be  called  Sebaste,  (that 
is,  Augusta,)  in  honour  of  the  emperor.  With  the  same 
object  in  view  he  gave  the  name  of  Caesarea  to  the  stately 
city  which  he  built  up  around  Strato's  Tower,  on  the 
Mediterranean.  It  occupied  twelve  years  in  building,  had 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  75 

a  noble  harbour,  and  was  adorned  with  a  theatre,  amphi- 
theatre, temples,  and  statues  of  the  emperor.  Many  other 
places  owed  to  Herod  their  rise  into  importance,  their 
enlargement  or  adornment.  His  munificence  was  not 
confined  to  his  own  dominion.  In  Damascus,  Antioch, 
Sidon,  and  even  in  Greece,  great  architectural  works,  tem- 
ples, theatres,  galleries  and  aqueducts  were  erected  or 
restored  either  at  his  cost  or  by  his  liberal  support.  More 
important,  however,  than  all  his  other  works  at  home  and 
abroad,  was  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem 
.  (John  ii.  20),^^  in  comparison  with  which  that  of  Zerub- 
babel,  and  even  the  famous  one  built  by  Solomon, 
appeared  poor  and  insignificant.  Thousands  of  priests, 
instructed  in  the  arts  of  building,  laboured  at  the  '  holy 
place'  (b.c.  20-19),  ^ft^^  about  two  years  the  interior 
was  so  far  restored  that  rehgious  worship  could  be  unin- 
terruptedly carried  on.  In  another  eight  years  the  colon- 
nades and  courts  were  so  much  advanced  that  the  House 
of  God  was  solemnly  dedicated  amid  great  festivities  and 
loud  rejoicing  among  the  Jews.  The  glory  of  the  build- 
ing— on  which  much  labour  was  yet  to  be  bestowed,  so 
that  the  work  lasted  for  another  ten  years,  and  indeed 
almost  down  to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem — was  much 
celebrated,  and  the  Jews  of  that  time  were  wont  to  say  : 
"  Whoever  has  not  seen  Herod's  Temple,  has  not  seen 
anything  beautiful." 

The  outward  splendour  of  Herod's  rule  gave  him  great 
influence  with  Augustus,  and  won  for  the  king  the  high 
favour  of  the  emperor.    But  notwithstanding  his  restora- 
tion of  the  Temple  and  other  favours,  he  could  not  win 
the  goodwill  of  his  Jewish  subjects,  who  endured  his  rule 


76 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


only  reluctantly  and  with  hatred  against  himself.  They 
not  only  knew  that  they  themselves  would  have  to  bear 
the  expense  of  so  much  building  in  their  own  country 
and  beyond  its  borders,  at  the  cost  of  heavy  sacrifices, 
but  they  saw  at  the  same  time  that  the  ancient  customs  of 
their  fathers  were  threatened  by  innovations,  and  their 
national  religion  by  the  Pagan  purposes  for  which  many  of 
the  buildings  were  designed.  Thus  there  was  general  dis- 
content and  much  murmuring  over  the  introduction  of 
foreign  and  heathen  practices,  the  contempt  of  traditional 
laws  and  the  changes  made  in  them,  the  capricious  and 
arbitrary  setting  up  and  deposition  of  High  Priests — over 
the  enormous  taxation  and  prodigal  expenditure  of 
revenue  in  and  out  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  terrible 
severity  of  the  king  against  his  opponents.  Herod  did 
not  conceal  from  himself  that  he  by  no  means  enjoyed 
the  entire  favour  and  confidence  of  his  people.  He  was 
constantly  surrounded  by  a  numerous  body-guard  ;  spies 
everywhere  reported  to  him  any  hostile  movement ;  for- 
tresses to  overawe  the  people  were  built  in  Jerusalem  and 
other  places ;  the  discontented  and  complaining  were 
imprisoned,  and  large  numbers  of  them  sentenced  to 
death.  It  was  of  no  avail  when  Herod,  once  in  a  while, 
in  a  time  of  scarcity,  procured  supplies  from  Egypt  and 
distributed  provisions  among  the  people,  or  at  another 
time  felt  himself  compelled  to  remit  the  taxes.  If  he 
thus  succeeded  in  pacifying  the  discontent  of  his  people 
and  earning  their  gratitude,  it  was  only  for  a  short  time. 
Their  enmity  soon  returned  and  impelled  them  to  serious 
conspiracies  against  him,  like  that  in  the  year  B.C.  25, 
when  only  the  treachery  of  one  of  the  conspirators  saved 
him  from  the  dagger  of  the  assassin. 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  77 

Suspicious  and  cruel  as  he  always  was,  he  showed  him- 
self especially  so  in  the  last  ten  years  of  his  reign.  The 
whole  people,  and  particularly  the  members  of  his  own 
family,  suffered  under  his  terrible  oppression.  To  the 
numerous  victims  of  the  Maccabean  race  were  now  added 
his  own  sons,  Alexander  and  Aristobulus,  the  children 
of  his  wife  Mariamne.  Antipater,  his  eldest  son  by  his 
former  wife  Doris,  slandered  his  step-brothers,  accusing 
them  of  wishing  to  avenge  upon  Herod  the  death  of  their 
mother.  The  king  was  suspicious  enough  to  believe  the 
evil  words  of  Antipater  and  the  lies  of  the  court  people 
whom  the  accuser  had  won  over,  and  who  were  constantly 
inventing  new  reports.  Accusations  and  reconciliations 
now  alternated  with  each  other ;  but  the  instigations  and 
calumnies  in  the  king's  palace  did  not  cease,  and  the  end 
of  the  tragedy  was  the  strangulation  of  Alexander  and 
Aristobulus  at  Sebaste  (b.c.  7),  in  the  very  place  where, 
thirty-two  years  before,  the  marriage  of  Herod  and  their 
mother  had  been  celebrated.  Augustus  at  that  time  is 
said  to  have  remarked  :  "  It  is  better  to  be  Herod's  swine 
than  his  son." 

But  the  tale  of  bloodshed  was  not  yet  complete,  A 
multitude  of  Pharisees,  with  some  of  the  courtiers  who 
had  conspired  against  the  king  in  favour  of  his  brother, 
were  put  to  death.  Two  learned  men  who,  believing 
that  the  king,  who  had  now  become  sick,  was  near  his 
end,  had  caused  the  golden  eagles  which  he  had  set  up 
over  the  gate  of  the  Temple  to  be  pulled  down  by  some 
of  their  disciples,  were  burnt  alive,  and  their  disciples  also 
executed.  To  all  this  must  be  added  the  terrible  story  of 
the  massacre  of  the  children  in  Bethlehem  (Matthew  ii. 


78 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


1 6- 1 8),  a  fact  of  which  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  no 
mention  anywhere  else,  since  among  the  evil  deeds  of 
Herod  it  would  vanish  like  a  drop  in  the  sea.  A  host  of 
little  children  might  easily  be  sacrificed  in  a  small  country 
town  hke  Bethlehem  without  much  notice  being  taken  of 
it.  At  last  the  slanderer,  Antipater,  who  had  not  scrupled 
to  poison  the  mind  of  his  father,  deservedly  shared  the 
fate  of  his  brothers.  The  disease  of  the  king  grew  worse 
every  day ;  but  all  in  Jerusalem  still  trembled  at  the  com- 
mands of  the  furious  dying  man,  who  was  determined 
that  tears  of  anger  should  flow  at  his  death,  since  he  well 
knew  that  no  tears  of  sorrow  and  sympathy  would  be  shed 
for  him.  Only  the  death  of  the  madman  which  took 
place  five  days  after  the  execution  of  Antipater,  set  the 
people  free  from  this  reign  of  terror.  Herod  died  of  a 
horrible  disease,  about  the  beginning  of  April,  four  years 
before  the  account  called  the  Christian  era,  when  he  was 
seventy  years  of  age. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  Herod  possessed  a  clear 
understanding,  great  energy  and  valour,  a  terrible  con- 
sistency, and  an  iron  will.  He  certainly  also  showed 
some  care  for  the  Jewish  people,  which  was  manifest  in 
times  of  distress,  or  when  he  interceded  with  Augustus 
for  the  Jews  who  were  dispersed  abroad.  By  his  energy 
he  suppressed  brigandage,  especially  in  the  east.  His 
architectural  undertakings  had  in  view  not  only  the  useful 
but  also  the  beautiful.  In  his  policy  he  exhibited  great 
wisdom  and  breadth  of  view,  which  almost  always  enabled 
him  to  make  his  way  favourably  and  gain  his  ends.  If 
for  these  reasons  and  for  his  great  achievements  he 
deserved  to  be  called  "the  Great,"  in  the  good  sense,  it  is 
equally  certain,  on  the  other  hand,  that  he  was  great  in 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  79 

evil.  His  measureless  ambition,  which  pressed  on  to  the 
desired  end,  regardless  of  everything  else ;  his  tyranny 
towards  all  classes  of  the  people  and  his  own  family ;  his 
unbounded  suspiciousness  of  all  the  world,  high  and  low, 
and  especially  of  his  own  blood-relations  ;  his  unsparing 
rage  and  cruelty  towards  his  opponents,  and  his  lax  views 
of  religion,  which  were  favourable  to  heathenism  and  far 
from  being  sincere  religiousness — all  marked  him  out  as  a 
king  whose  greatness  was  a  terror  to  his  people.  Only  in 
explanation,  and  not  in  exculpation,  can  reference  be 
made  to  the  corruption  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived, 
the  evil  example  of  Rome,  the  critical  condition  of  the 
Jewish  people,  the  divisions  and  contentions  in  his  family, 
and — with  respect  to  the  last  occurrences  of  his  reign — 
his  age  and  his  terrible  affliction. 

It  was  only  after  much  disturbance  and  bloodshed  that 
Herod's  testament  could  be  sustained  and  carried  out. 
but  under  it  his  son  Archelaus  got  for  his  dominions  as 
ethnarch,  with  the  sanction  of  the  emperor,  the  provinces 
of  Judaea,  Samaria,  and  Idumea.^^  His  brother  Herod 
Antipas  became  tetrach  of  Gahlee  and  Peraea ;  and  Philip, 
another  brother,  tetrach  of  the  other  provinces  lying  to 
the  north  of  the  country  east  of  the  Jordan." 

Archelaus,  born  about  B.C.  21,  had  been  very  badly 
educated  in  Rome,  and  was  an  arrogant,  tyrannical, 
unjust,  and  prodigal  man.  His  rule,  which  he  exercised 
from  Jericho,  was  full  of  oppression,  sensuality,  and  arbi- 
trariness, and  only  lasted  from  B.C.  4  to  a.d.  6.  He 
created  great  scandal  by  putting  away  his  wife  Mariamne, 
in  order  to  marry  Claphyra,  the  profligate  widow  of  his 
brother  Alexander  who  had  been  executed    Like  his 


80 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


father,  he  installed  or  deposed  High  Priests  at  his  pleasuie 
or  caprice.  Every  year  of  his  rule  was  full  of  injustice 
and  abuse.  At  last  all  joined  in  one  general  complaint 
against  him  to  the  emperor,  who  summoned  him  to  Rome 
in  his  tenth  year  of  office,  to  answer  for  his  misdeeds. 
The  result  was  that  he  was  now  banished  to  Vienna  in 
Gallia  (a.d.  6),  his  property  w^as  confiscated,  and  his 
tetrarchy  made  a  part  of  the  Roman  province  of  Syria. 

Judaea  was  now  ruled  by  procurators,  who  were  sub- 
ordinate to  the  imperial  governor  of  Syria.  The  procura- 
tors had  the  chief  command  of  the  troops  quartered  in 
Palestine  ;  the  financial  management  of  their  districts  was 
in  their  hands ;  and  it  was  their  duty  to  administer  justice, 
except  in  so  far  as  this  was  the  function  of  the  Sanhedrin, 
which  was  especially  the  case  in  religious  questions.  It 
was  theirs  also  to  pass  sentence  of  death,  or  to  confirm 
those  passed  by  the  Sanhedrin  (John  xviii.  31).®^  They 
generally  resided  in  C^esarea  (Acts  xxiii.  23-25),^^  but  fre- 
quently visited  the  Capital,  especially  at  the  times  of  the 
great  festivals,  when  it  was  necessary  to  take  precautions 
against  disorders  among  the  crowds  flocking  into  the  city. 
On  such  occasions  they  resided  in  the  former  palace  of 
Herod,  or  at  the  Praetorium^'^  (Matthew  xxvii.  27,  Mark 
XV.  16,  John  xviii.  28). 

Of  the  seven  procurators  who  governed  Judaea  from 
A.D.  6  to  41,  we  know  little  more  than  their  names.  After 
Coponius  (about  a.d.  6-9),  the  first  procurator,  came  Mar- 
cus Ambivius,  who  only  held  the  office  till  a.d.  12  ;  he 
was  followed  by  Annius  Rufus  (a.d.  12-15),  Valerius 
Gratus  (15-26),  Pontius  Pilate  (26-36),  Marcellus  (36-37), 
and  MaruUus  (37-41).^     Immediately  after  Judaea  was 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  81 

placed  under  the  government  of  Roman  officials,  Quirinus, 
who  in  the  time  of  Coponius  was  governor  of  Syria,  took 
measures  to  carry  out  the  general  taxing,  mentioned  in  Luke 
ii.^^ ;  one  result  of  which  was  an  insurrection  of  the  people 
under  Judas,  the  Gaulonite  or  Galilean  (Acts  v.  37).  After 
this  time  it  is  probable  that  the  patriotic  party  formed  the 
sect  of  the  "  Zealots," '°  who  struggled  desperately  against 
Rome.'^ 

Among  all  the  procurators,  the  best  known  and,  for 
Christians,  the  most  important  is  Pontius  Pilate.  In  his 
days  John  the  Baptist  arose,  and  Jesus  hved  and  died. 
Philo  describes  him"^  as  obstinate,  hard,  and  implacable 
in  character.  He  charges  him  with  corruption,  outrage, 
continual  executions  without  judgment,  and  other  crimes 
and  abominable  cruelties.  There  was  undoubtedly  much 
truth  at  the  bottom  of  these  accusations.  In  the  New 
Testament  Pilate  appears  before  us  as  inconsistent,  waver- 
ing and  unjust.  Among  the  incidents  of  his  official  life  that 
have  come  down  to  us  from  other  sources,  it  is  related 
that  he  aroused  the  indignation  of  the  Jews  by  ordering 
the  Roman  soldiers  to  enter  the  city  of  Jerusalem  with 
the  standards  bearing  the  image  of  the  emperor.  The 
people  besought  him  all  one  day  to  remove  the  heathen 
symbols,  and  at  last,  when  even  force  and  threats  of  death 
availed  nothing  against  the  crowd,  he  was  obhged  to  yield 
to  their  will.^^  It  appears  from  Luke  xiii.  i,  that  on  another 
occasion  Pilate  put  to  death  some  Galileans  while  they  were 
sacrificing,  and  "  mingled  their  blood  with  their  offerings." 
And  Mark,  as  well  as  Luke,  when  relating  the  release  of 
Barabbas,  tells  us  of  an  insurrection  in  the  city,  in  which 
murder  was  committed,  but  we  know  nothing  more 

G 


82 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


definite  of  these  occurrences.  At  a  later  time  Pilate 
sought  to  mortify  the  Jews  by  setting  up  some  votive 
shields,  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the  emperor,  in  the 
palace  at  Jerusalem  ;  but  at  the  solicitation  of  the  most 
important  inhabitants,  the  emperor  Tiberius  ordered  their 
removal  from  the  Jewish  capital,  and  their  erection  in 
Csesarea.^^  When,  at  last,  Pilate  cruelly  ill-treated  the 
Samaritans,  who  had  assembled  on  Mount  Gerizim — to 
view  the  sacred  vessels  which,  it  was  said,  had  been  con- 
cealed there  from  the  time  of  Moses — and  killed  some  of 
them,  the  people  of  that  province  petitioned  Vitellius,  the 
governor  of  Syria,  Pilate's  superior,  against  him,  and 
obtained  his  removal  from  office  (a.d.  36).^^  Marcellus 
and  Marullus  were  the  last  of  the  seven  Roman  governors 
of  Judaea  (a.d.  41). 

Philip,  another  son  of  Herod  the  Great — from  B.C.  4  to 
A.D  34,  tributary  prince  of  the  north-eastern  territory 
including  Batanaea,  Trachonitis,  Auranitis,  Gaulonitis, 
Banias,  and  Ituraea  (Luke  iii.  i) — was  about  the  same 
age  as  Archelaus,  but  stood  morally  far  higher  than  that 
prince  and  Herod  Antipas.  His  rule  was  a  peaceful  one, 
and  continued  to  his  death.  Two  of  his  pubhc  works 
deserve  to  be  mentioned.  He  enlarged  and  beautified 
the  city  of  Panias,  at  the  foot  of  Lebanon,  and  re-named 
it  Caesarea,  with  the  addition  of  Philippi,  to  connect  it 
with  himself  and  to  distinguish  it  from  the  other  Caesarea, 
on  the  Mediterranean.  To  this  city,  as  we  read,  Jesus 
once  journeyed  (Matthew  xvi.  13,  Mark  viii.  27).  He  also 
transformed  the  village  of  Bethsaida,  situated  to  the  north- 
east of  the  Sea  of  Tiberias,  into  the  city  of  Julias,  so 
called  in  honour  of  the  daughter  of  Octavius,  of  the  same 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  83 

name.  He  devoted  himself  to  the  good  of  his  provinces, 
and  ruled  so  beneficently  and  righteously  that  his  people 
loved  him,  and  nothing  was  heard  of  opposition  or  rebel- 
lion. In  his  private  life  he  was  plain  and  simple  in  his 
habits.  His  marriage  with  Salome,  the  daughter  of 
Herodias,  was  a  childless  one.    He  died  in  the  year 

A.  D.  34,  at  Julias,  where,  with  every  sign  of  respect  and 
love,  he  was  buried.  His  provinces,  like  those  of  Arche- 
laus,  were  now  annexed  to  the  Roman  province  of  Syria. 

The  last  of  the  Herodian  princes,  of  whom  we  have  to 
tell,  is  Herod  Antipas,  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  Peraea  from 

B.  C.  4  to  A.D.  39,  and  often  mentioned  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment simply  as  '  Herod.'  It  was  to  his  jurisdiction  that 
Jesus  himself  belonged  (Luke  xxiii.  7).  He  was,  in 
almost  every  respect,  a  genuine  scion  of  Herod  the  Great 
— ambitious,  clever,  and  fond  of  display  ;  although  he  had 
not  so  much  strength  of  will  and  courage  as  his  father. 
Jesus  characterizes  him  as  "that  fox"  (Luke  xiii.  32),  and 
warns  his  disciples  against  his  influence  as  'leaven,'  of 
course  in  a  bad  sense  (Mark  viii.  15).  This  prince  also 
sought  to  make  himself  famous  by  great  public  works. 
He  rebuilt,  on  a  larger  scale,  the  city  of  Sepphoris,  which 
had  been  burnt  by  the  soldiers  of  Varus  ;  he  fortified 
Betharamphtha,  a  town  to  the  east  of  Jordan,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  Peraea,  and  called  it  Livias,  after  the  consort  of 
Augustus ;  and  he  founded  an  entirely  new  city  as  the 
capital  of  Galilee,  on  the  western  shore  of  the  lake  of 
Gennesaret,  and  called  it  Tiberias,  in  honour  of  the  new 
emperor,  whose  favour  he  sought  further  to  gain  by 
changing  the  name  of  the  lake  itself  to  "the  Sea  of 
Tiberias."    At  the  time  of  the  great  feasts  he  seems  to 


84 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


have  been  often  present  in  Jerusalem  (Luke  xxiii.  7), 
where  he  may  have  taken  part  in  the  appeal  which  the 
people  made  to  the  emperor  against  Pilate.  On  the 
occasion  of  a  visit  to  the  house  of  his  step-brother  Herod 
Philip,  not  the  tetrarch/^  who  was  living  as  a  private  indi- 
vidual, he  induced  the  latter's  wife,  the  beautiful  and 
ambitious  Herodias,  daughter  of  Aristobulus,  who  had 
been  executed,  to  be  unfaithful  to  her  husband,  although 
he  (Herod  Antipas)  was  fifty  years  of  age,  and  she  was 
forty,  and  had  long  been  the  mother  of  Salome,  who, 
later  on,  was  married  to  Philip  the  tetrarch.^'  In  order  to 
marry  her,  he  wished  to  put  away  his  own  wife,  a  daughter 
of  the  Arabian  king  Aretas,  to  whom  he  had  been  mar- 
ried for  many  years,  and  who,  having  heard  of  her  hus- 
band's infidelity,  now  fled  to  her  father.  John  the  Baptist 
was  beheaded  because  he  courageously  told  Herod  Antipas 
that  it  was  not  lawful  that  he  should  have  his  brother's 
wife.  In  the  gloomy  fortress  of  Machaerus  he  fell  a  vic- 
tim to  the  vengeance  of  Herodias,  and  perhaps  also  to 
Herod's  fear  of  a  political  and  rehgious  rising  through 
him. 

When,  at  a  later  period,  Herod  Antipas  heard  of  Jesus, 
he  believed  him  to  be  John  the  Baptist  risen  from  the 
dead  (Matthew  xiv.  i,  2),  and  had  a  great  desire  to  see 
him  (Luke  ix.  9),  but  soon  sought  secretly  to  put  him  to 
death  (Luke  xiii.  31).  It  was  not  till  Pilate  sent  Jesus  to 
Herod  to  have  his  case  decided  by  him,  as  tetrarch  of 
Gahlee — to  which  province  Jesus  belonged — that  Herod 
had  any  personal  acquaintance  with  Jesus.  Notwithstand- 
ing his  character  and  his  crimes,  he  had  many  partizans. 
In  the  New  Testament  they  are  called  Herodians  (Mat- 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  85 

thew  xxii.  i6,  Mark  iii.  6),  by  which  term  we  must  under- 
stand not  merely  the  servants  of  Herod,  but,  as  Josephus 
describes  them,  "the  people  who  supported  Herod's 
cause."  With  him  they  maintained,  at  least  outwardly, 
a  friendly  attitude  towards  the  Romans.  This  is  the 
explanation  of  the  particular  question  which  on  one  occa- 
sion they  put  to  Jesus, — whether  it  was  right  to  pay 
tribute  to  Caesar  or  not ;  by  which  they  hoped  to  entrap 
him  into  giving  an  answer  hostile  to  Rome  (Mark  xii.  i6). 

Towards  the  end  of  his  reign,  about  a.d.  36,  Herod 
was  involved  in  a  war  with  Aretas,  the  causes  of  which 
were  a  dispute  about  their  frontier,  and,  more  especially, 
his  behaviour  to  his  former  wife.  Aretas  completely 
defeated  him,^^  and  the  people  saw  in  this  disaster  the 
righteous  punishment  of  his  faithlessness  towards  his 
wife,  and  his  murder  of  John  the  Baptist. 

In  the  meantime,  Agrippa  I.,  the  brother  of  Herodias 
and  the  son  of  the  murdered  Aristobulus  (b.c.  7),  had  at 
Rome  found  means  of  ingratiating  himself  with  the  em- 
peror Cahgula ;  and  his  imperial  benefactor,  as  a  proof  of 
his  favour,  granted  him,  with  the  title  of  king,  all  the 
possessions  of  the  deceased  Philip,  tetrarch  of  Ituraea,  etc. 
As  soon  as  Herod  Antipas  heard  of  this,  misled  by  the 
ambitious  Herodias,  he  petitioned  the  emperor  for  the 
same  royal  title.  But  the  charge  brought  against  him  by 
Agrippa  L,  of  being  a  rebel  against  Rome,  was  sufficient 
to  ruin  him,  and  instead  of  a  king's  crown  he  received 
sentence  of  banishment  to  Lugdunum  in  Gallia,  whither 
Herodias  followed  him. 

Herod  Antipas  being  thus  deposed,  Agrippa  I.  obtained, 
in  addition  to  his  eastern  provinces,  the  tetrarchy  of 


86  IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 

Galilee  and  Peraea  (a.d.  40);  and  when  the  emperor 
Claudius  had  entered  on  his  rule  (a.d.  41),  he  obtained 
also  the  government  of  Judaea  and  Samaria,  which  up  till 
then  had  been  administered  by  procurators.  And  thus 
once  again  all  the  former  possessions  of  Herod  the  Great 
were  united  under  one  crowned  head  (a.d.  41-44).  This 
prince,  who  had  led  a  restless  and  adventurous  life,  dis- 
tinguished himself,  in  the  days  of  his  power,  by  his  piety 
and  observance  of  the  Pharisaical  principles,  his  benevo- 
lence, and  affability.  He  lost  no  opportunity  of  exhibiting 
to  the  Jews  his  disposition  to  favour  their  nation.  In 
order  to  please  them  he  became  the  persecutor  of  the 
little  band  of  Christians.  Under  him  the  elder  James 
(Acts  xii.  2)  was  executed,  and  Peter  was  thrown  into 
prison,  from  which  he  only  escaped  by  the  miraculous 
help  of  God.  After  a  short  reign  this  king  died  suddenly 
and  miserably  at  Caesarea  (a.d.  44),  where,  after  some  fes- 
tivities held  in  honour  of  the  emperor,  he  permitted  him- 
self to  be  worshipped  as  a  god  (Acts  xii.  19).'^^ 

After  his  death,  the  whole  country  of  Palestine  was 
again  made  a  province  of  the  Roman  Empire,  adminis- 
tered by  procurators  in  subordination  to  the  governor  of 
Syria.  Antonius  Fehx  (a.d.  52-60)  was  the  fourth  of 
them,  and  Porcius  Festus  (60-62),  before  whom  Paul  had 
to  defend  himself  against  the  charges  of  the  Jews  (x'^cts 
XXV.)  was  the  fifth.  In  the  year  a.d.  50,  Agrippa  II. — son 
of  Agrippa  I. — obtained  the  little  dominion  of  Chalcis  on 
Lebanon.  Three  years  later  he  received  the  title  of  king, 
and  along  with  it  the  former  territory  of  Philip,  to  which, 
under  Nero,  were  added  portions  of  Peraea  and  Galilee, 
including  the  city  of  Tiberias.    When,  at  Caesarea,  Agrippa 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  87 

II.,  with  his  sister  Berenice,  paid  a  visit  of  respect  to 
Festus,  he  had  the  prisoner  Paul  brought  before  him,  and 
heard  him  speak  in  his  own  defence  (Acts  xxv.  22). 
Agrippa,  who  was  ahvays  loyal  to  Rome,  remained  in  pos- 
session of  his  kingdom  till  his  death,  about  a.d.  icq. 

For  many  years  discontent  and  anger  against  the 
Roman  rule  and  its  oppressions  was  stirring  in  all  Jewish 
hearts  ;  from  time  to  time  the  fire  of  rebelhon  threatened 
to  burst  into  flames  ;  and  indeed  isolated  outbreaks  had 
taken  place  frequently.  From  the  time  of  Felix  the  inter- 
nal disorder,  lawlessness,  and  resistance  against  Rome 
spread  more  and  more.  Gessius  Florus  was  the  last,  and 
also  the  worst  of  the  procurators  (a.d.  64-66) ;  his  tyranny 
was  measureless ;  he  plundered  whole  cities  and  ruined 
entire  communities.  The  ferment  among  the  people 
increased,  and  soon  the  flames  of  insurrection  blazed  forth 
(a.d.  66).  The  governor  of  Syria,  Cestius  Gallus,  marched 
against  the  Jews,  but  was  compelled  to  retreat  before  their 
superior  strength,  leaving  valuable  war  materials  in  their 
hands.  The  rebellion  was  now  systematically  organized, 
so  as  to  be  able  to  cope  effectually  with  a  larger  Roman 
army.  In  the  year  a.d.  67  the  emperor  Nero  sent  Vespa- 
sian into  Palestine  at  the  head  of  about  60,000  men. 
Favoured  by  internal  disputes  among  the  Jews,  he  had 
already  conquered  Galilee,  and  was  about  to  press  for- 
ward into  Judaea  and  to  the  conquest  of  Jerusalem,  when 
the  death  of  Nero  (a.d.  68)  was  announced  in  Palestine. 
Vespasian  now  adopted  a  pohcy  of  delay  and  waiting ; 
but  after  the  short  reign  of  Galba,  and  the  subsequent 
elevation  of  Vitellius,  he  himself  was  proclaimed  emperor 
by  his  soldiers.  Vitelhus  soon  met  with  his  end  by  assas- 


88 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


sination,  and  Vespasian  now — in  the  spring  of  a.d.  70 — 
repaired  to  Rome  as  emperor,  leaving  the  completion  of 
the  war  to  his  son  Titus.  The  latter  advanced  to  the 
siege  of  Jerusalem,  and  completely  invested  it  at  Easter 
A.D.  70,  at  a  time  when  the  city  was  full  of  visitors,  and 
when  internal  party  struggles  divided  the  population. 
After  a  desperate  and  obstinate  resistance  on  the  part  of 
the  Jews,  the  Romans  took,  one  after  another,  the  New 
City,  the  Lower  City,  and  the  fortress  of  Antonia.  The 
most  horrible  distress  and  suffering  now  prevailed  among 
the  besieged ;  hunger  raged  more  and  more,  and  if  a  fev; 
individuals  ventured  out  of  the  city  to  seek  for  food  they 
were  seized  by  the  Romans  and  impaled  on  crosses,  or 
mutilated  and  hurled  back  over  the  walls.  When  all 
demands  for  the  surrender  of  Jerusalem  proved  unavail- 
ing, the  Romans  proceeded  to  storm  the  Temple.  The 
gates  of  the  forecourt  were  destroyed  by  fire ;  the  holy 
place  itself  was  to  have  been  spared  at  the  express  wish  of 
Titus  himself;  but  on  the  ninth  of  the  month  Ab,  or 
about  our  August,  a  Roman  soldier  threw  a  burning  torch 
into  the  Temple.^^  Titus  gave  the  order  that  the  fire 
should  be  extinguished,  but  his  word,  although  heard  at 
first,  was  afterwards,  in  the  fury  of  the  battle,  disregarded, 
and  the  noble  building  perished  in  the  flames.  Those 
who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans  were  slaughtered ; 
neither  age  nor  sex  nor  rank  were  spared.  At  last  the 
Upper  City,  which  had  been  vainly  defended  by  Simon 
Bar-Giora  and  John  of  Giscala,  was  taken  also  (on  the 
8th  of  Elul,  that  is  about  our  September),  and  thus  the 
whole  city  was  occupied  by  the  Romans.  The  end  of 
Jerusalem  was  to  be  razed  to  the  ground.    The  people 


THE  POLITICAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  PALESTINE.  89 

who  had  not  perished  by  famine  and  sword,  nor  escaped 
by  flight,  were,  some  of  them,  sold  into  captivity,  or  sent 
to  work  in  the  mines ;  others  were  destined  for  the  gladi- 
atorial combats ;  and  the  finest  and  most  powerful  men 
were  reserved  to  grace  the  triumph  of  Titus. 

The  few  other  strong  places  of  the  country  which  now 
remained  unsubdued,  were  taken  about  the  beginning  of 
the  year  a.d.  73.  With  their  fall  the  Jewish  State  came  to 
an  end  ;  the  land  devastated  by  war  became  for  the  most 
part  a  desolate  waste ;  the  population  was  absolutely 
decimated. 

But  the  Jews,  although  immeasurably  enfeebled,  did 
not  even  now  give  up  their  cause.  And  although  the 
inhabitants  of  Palestine  were  not  able  so  soon  to  offer  any 
resistance,  the  Jewish  population  of  Cyrene  and  Egypt 
rose  against  the  Roman  rule  in  the  time  of  the  emperor 
Trajan  (a.d.  115-117),  and  were  followed  by  the  Jews  on 
the  island  of  Cyprus  and  those  of  Mesopotamia.  It  was 
not  till  much  blood  had  been  shed  that  the  Romans  suc- 
ceeded in  quelling  these  risings,  and  full  quietness  was 
only  restored  under  Hadrian  (a.d.  117). 

The  first  fifteen  years  of  Hadrian's  reign  were  passed 
in  peace  and  order.  The  emperor  showed  himself  lenient 
and  friendly  towards  the  Jews,  and  even  gave  permission 
for  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple.  Afterwards,  however, 
he  changed  his  mind,  and  ordered  that  the  Temple  should 
be  dedicated  to  Jupiter,  that  circumcision  should  be  abol- 
ished, and  that  the  city  to  be  newly  built  should  be  called 
^ha  Capitolina.  This  was  more  than  the  Jews  could 
bear,  and  a  terrible  revolt  broke  out.  Simon,  called  Bar- 
cochba,  ("son  of  a  star,"  Numbers  xxiv.  17),  who  set  him- 


90 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


self  up  as  the  Messiah,  took  the  lead  of  the  insurrection, 
and  it  soon  spread  over  all  Palestine.  The  struggle  lasted 
for  three  and  a  half  years  (a.d.  132-135),  but  the  end  was 
the  entire  subjugation  of  the  Jewish  people.  They 
never  again  recovered  their  independence,  and  have  been 
ever  since  scattered  among  all  nations — a  people  with- 
out a  country  and  without  a  Temple.  Jerusalem  was 
now  actually  called  JEMsl  Capitolina ;  heathen  colonists 
were  settled  in  it ;  heathen  temples  arose,  a  heathen  form 
of  government  was  introduced,  and  the  Jews  were  for- 
bidden to  enter  the  city  on  pain  of  death. 

Antonius  Pius  (a.d.  i 38-1 61),  it  is  true,  allowed  the 
Jews  to  practice  circumcision ;  and  after  the  death  of 
Constantine  (a.d.  337)  they  were  again  permitted  to  enter 
Jerusalem  ;  but,  from  that  day  to  this,  Palestine  has  never 
been  a  Jewish  country,  nor  Jerusalem  a  Jewish  capital 
city. 

What  a  terrible  tragedy  does  the  pohtical  history  of  this 
people,  who  loved  to  call  themselves  the  chosen  of  God, 
present !  How  different  would  it  all  have  been  had  they 
not  rejected  the  Saviour  !  Then  would  he  not  have  had 
to  weep  over  the  city  (Luke  xix.  41),  foreseeing  its 
destruction  and  the  sorrowful  destiny  of  the  whole  country 
(Mark  xiii.) ;  nor  to  say  in  words  of  lament  and  con- 
demnation :  "Ye  would  not !  Behold  your  house  is  left 
unto  you  desolate  !  "  (Luke  xiii.  34.) 

At  the  time,  however,  when  Jesus  himself  lived  on  the 
earth,  the  day  of  final  ruin  was  not  yet  come.  Let  us 
look  a  little  more  closely  at  the  aspect  of  affairs  among 
those  whom  he  called  his  brethren. 


91 


III. 

The  Sanhedrin  and  the  High  Priests. 

Although  in  the  days  of  Jesus,  the  pohtical  rule  of  Pales- 
tine was  in  the  hands  of  Rome,  or  of  the  governors  and 
procurators  who  represented  it — and  if,  moreover,  the 
Herods  were  at  the  head  of  the  Jewish  people  as  vassal- 
princes,  we  must  still  distinguish  from  them  another 
authority,  which  to  a  certain  extent  was  the  highest 
national  and  indigenous  court  in  the  country — the 
synedrion  in  Jerusalem,  the  Sanhedrin  or  High  Council. 
We  meet  with  the  name  synedrion  elsewhere,  especially 
as  a  designation  for  the  minor  Jewish  councils  in  particu- 
lar localities  ;  and  it  is  very  probable  that  Jesus  refers  to 
such  a  council  in  his  Sermon  on  the  Mount  (Matthew 
v.  22),  and  in  his  instructions  to  his  disciples  (Matthew 
X.  1 7,  Mark  xiii.  9).  In  the  smaller  places,  seven  men, 
as  Josephus  intimates,^^  seem  to  have  formed  the  proper 
number  to  constitute  one  of  these  local  courts.  In  cities 
with  a  population  of  at  least  one  hundred  and  twenty 
men,  the  synedrio?i  was  formed  of  twenty-three  persons. 

But  the  High  Council  in  Jerusalem  was  of  far  greater 
importance  than  these  provincial  centres  of  author- 
ity. The  origin  of  it  was  traced  back  to  Moses,  who,  on 
the  march  through  the  wilderness,  nominated  by  Divine 
command  seventy  "  elders  of  the  people"  as  a  council  or 
college  to  assist  him  in  the  government  of  the  tribes 


92 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


(Numbers  xi.  i6).  After  the  return  from  exile  this  institu- 
tion, which  for  a  long  time  had  necessarily  fallen  into 
desuetude,  was  re-organized  by  Ezra ;  but  there  is  no 
trace  of  it  after  that  for  a  long  period  of  history.  Not 
till  about  B.C.  200  do  we  meet  with  an  assembly  at  all 
similar  to  the  council  of  seventy.  Josephus  speaks  of 
one  under  the  name  of  gerousia^'^^  that  is  "council  of 
elders."  In  the  books  of  Maccabees  it  is  also  so  designa- 
ted, or  as  an  assembly  of  the  "elders  of  the  people" 
(1.  Maccabees  xii.  35,  II.  Maccabees  i.  10,  etc.)  In  the 
time  of  Pompey,  and  afterwards  in  that  of  Julius  Caesar, 
the  name  synedrion  appears ;  for  example,  Herod  once 
had  to  defend  himself  before  a  court  with  this  title.^  In 
the  time  of  Jesus  it  is  often  mentioned  under  the  same 
name,  and  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  it  is  styled  ^^gerousia" 
and  presbyteno?i^''  that  is  the  "council  of  the  elders" 
(Acts  V.  21,  xxii.  5).  The  Jewish  designation  for  it  is  "  The 
Great  Sanhedrin,"  or  "  The  Great  Court  of  Justice."  This 
most  important  national  tribunal  existed  under  varying 
fortunes — sometimes  freer,  sometimes  more  repressed — as 
long  as  the  Jews  formed  a  nation.  In  the  common  ruin 
of  the  people,  in  the  year  a.d.  70,  the  High  Council  also 
came  to  an  end. 

It  was  constituted  of  seventy-one  pure  Israelite  mem- 
bers, who  in  the  New  Testament  are  distinguished  as 
chief  priests  ( archiereis )  ^  elders  (presbyferoi),  and 
scribes  (grammateh).  The  scribes  were  men  learned  in 
the  Jewish  law ;  the  presbyters,  who  were  generally  lay 
men,  but  some  of  them  priests,  composed  the  remainder 
of  the  council,  that  is  all  those  who  were  not  scribes  or 
chief  priests.     It  was  required  that  they  should  be  of 


THE  SANHEDRIN  AND  THE  HIGH  PRIESTS.  93 

mature  age,  but  it  was  not  necessary  that  in  the  number 
of  their  years  they  should  be  the  eldest  among  the  people. 
To  be  a  member  of  the  Sanhedrin  was  a  distinction  as 
much  coveted,  and  afforded  a  title  of  honour  as  highly 
valued,  as  to  be  one  of  the  gerontes  among  the  Greeks,  or 
a  senator  at  Rome ;  just  as  similar  honours  are  esteemed 
among  us.  The  position  of  the  Sanhedrin  with  respect 
to  the  religious  parties  among  the  Jews  was  this,  that  both 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees  were  represented  in  it  (Acts 
xxiii.  6),  and  if  the  most  distinguished  members,  the  chief 
priests,  were  Sadducees  (Acts  v.  17),  the  Pharisees  had 
the  advantage  of  superior  numbers,  and  as  a  matter  of 
fact  possessed  greater  influence.®^ 

The  office  of  president,  according  to  the  evidence  of 
the  New  Testament  (Matt.  xxvi.  57.  Acts  v.  17),  which  is 
confirmed  by  that  of  Josephus,^^  belonged  always  to  the 
High  Priest,  as  such.^'^  According  to  the  Mishna,  the 
president  bore  the  title  of  "  Nasi,"  and  the  vice-president 
that  of  "Ab-beth-din." 

While  the  smaller  councils  held  their  meetings  much 
less  frequently,  the  sittings  of  the  Sanhedrin  took  place 
very  often,  of  course  with  the  exception  of  the  feast  days, 
and — since  sentence  of  condemnation  was  usually  deferred 
to  the  following  day — criminal  sessions  were  not  held  on 
the  eve  of  any  festival.  As  regards  the  place  of  meeting, 
the  *  Hall  of  Squares'  or  '  Paved  Hall,'  in  the  Temple,  is 
often  mentioned.  At  a  later  time,  about  a.d.  30,  the 
high  council  seem  to  have  removed  to  another  place 
outside  the  Temple  area,®^  but  there  is  much  uncertainty 
about  this  point.  When  Matthew  names  the  palace  of  the 
High  Priest  Caiaphas  (Matt.  xxvi.  3  and  57)  as  the  place 


94 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


of  meeting,  this  can  only  be  explained  by  the  supposition 
that  the  place  of  removal  was  in  or  connected  with  the 
High  Priest's  palace,  or  that  the  meeting  there  was  a 
temporary  and  exceptional  arrangement. 

At  first  the  Sanhedrin  possessed  the  supreme  spiritual 
and  secular  jurisdiction  over  the  people.  In  the  days  of 
Jesus  its  functions  embraced  all  judicial  decisions  and  all 
regulations  of  government,  which  were  neither  left  to  the 
courts  of  lower  rank  on  the  one  hand,  nor  reserved  for 
the  Roman  procurators  on  the  other.^^  Especially  it  was 
the  duty  of  the  Council  to  watch  over  genealogies,  so  as 
to  guard  the  purity  of  the  hereditary  priesthood ;  to 
superintend  the  forms  and  ritual  of  worship ;  to  make 
calculations  for  the  calendar,  to  adjust  the  solar  year  with 
the  lunar  months ;  to  fix  the  dates  for  the  festivals  ;  to 
decide  matrimonial  cases ;  to  enforce  the  exact  fulfilment 
of  the  law ;  to  punish  transgi-essors  of  it,  and  false 
prophets ;  and  even  to  exercise  judicial  control  over  the 
chief  priests.  The  right  of  inflicting  capital  punishment, 
or  to  speak  more  exactly,  the  confirmation  and  execution 
of  its  own  death  sentences,  was  taken  from  the  National 
Council  and  reserved  for  the  Roman  procurator  (John 
xviii.  31).  When  we  read  of  the  stoning  of  Stephen  by 
the  Jews  (Acts  vii.),  this  can  only  be  regarded  as  an 
unlawful  act  on  their  part,  or  as  an  outbreak  of  passion 
and  violence.  The  power  of  the  Sanhedrin  extended 
beyond  the  Hmits  of  Palestine.  The  Jewish  communities 
in  other  countries,  such  as  those  in  Damascus,  Alexandria, 
and  Mesopotamia  submitted  to  its  directions  and  decisions 
(Acts  ix.  2). 

When  the  Sanhedrin  was  assembled  as  a  court  of  justice, 


THE  SANHEDRIN  AND  THE  HIGH  PRIESTS.  95 


the  accused  person  was  examined  (Matthew  xxvi.  62, 
Mark  xiv.  60) ;  witnesses  were  heard  (Matthew  xxvi.  60, 
Acts  vi.  13);  reasons  for  and  against  conviction  were 
adduced ;  and,  if  the  accused  was  found  guilty,  sentence 
was  passed  on  another  day.  The  latter  custom  was  not 
observed  in  the  case  of  Jesus  (Matthew  xxvi.  65  and  66) ; 
he  was  immediately  condemned  for  alleged  blasphemy.^" 
Peter  and  John  were  brought  to  the  bar  of  the  Sanhedrin 
as  false  prophets  and  seducers  of  the  people  (Acts  iv.  v.). 
Stephen  was  arraigned  for  "  speaking  blasphemous  words 
against  the  holy  place  and  the  law;"  and  Paul  was 
charged  with  teaching  false  doctrine  (Acts  xxiii.).^^ 

Among  the  members  of  the  Sanhedrin  the  chief  priests 
occupied  a  prominent  place,  so  that  we  must  direct  our 
attention  a  little  more  particularly  to  them.  The  chief 
priests,®^  who,  as  we  have  seen,  appear  to  have  been  the 
leading  personages  in  the  Council,  were  in  the  first  place 
the  High  Priests  in  the  proper  sense — that  is  he,  or  those, 
who  were  actually  performing  the  functions  of  the  office 
— and  those  who  had  formerly  filled  it ;  and  in  the  second 
place  those  who  belonged  to  the  preferred  families,  from 
whose  members  the  High  Priests  were  generally  taken. 
All  the  functions  and  virtues  of  the  priestly  office  were 
centred  in  the  officiating  High  Priest.  By  his  office  he 
was  the  mediator  for  the  whole  people  before  God.  The 
conditions  as  to  purity  and  holiness  which  were  demanded 
of  all  priests  were  in  his  case  raised  still  higher.  He 
must  be  a  member  of  a  family  of  purely  Israelitish  blood, 
and  could  only  take  as  a  wife  a  blameless  Israelitish 
virgin.  He  had  his  special  official  vestments ;  besides 
the  customary  priestly  garment  he  wore  a  sacred  robe. 


96 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


called  the  ephod,  worked  in  gold,  purple,  and  crimson, 
in  the  best  style  of  oriental  workmanship ;  a  '  breast 
plate  '  engraved  with  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes  and  set 
with  twelve  precious  stones  of  enormous  value ;  and  the 
mitre,  or  turban,  with  the  diadem  attached,  on  which  was 
inscribed  : — "  Holiness  to  the  Lord  "  (Exodus  xxviii. 
36).  The  duties  of  his  office  were,  the  presidency  of  the 
Sanhedrin,  the  oversight  of  the  Temple  and  the  services 
held  in  it,  the  charge  of  the  Temple  treasury,  and,  above 
all,  the  presentation  on  the  great  Day  of  Atonement  of 
the  Sin-offering  and  the  Burnt-offering  (Leviticus  x.  19). 
Besides  all  this  he  could  perform  every  other  priestly 
function  at  his  pleasure. 

In  the  time  of  Herod  the  Great,  the  principle  of  hfe- 
long  tenure  and  hereditary  succession  to  the  office,  which 
had  been  strictly  adhered  to,  ceased  entirely.  Herod  and 
the  princes  who  succeeded  him,  as  well  as  the  Roman 
authorities,  set  up  and  deposed  High  Priests  according  to 
their  will,  and  most  of  them  remained  in  office  but  a 
very  short  time,  so  that  from  B.C.  37  to  a.d.  68  as  many  as 
twenty-eight  High  Priests  can  be  counted.^'  Annas,  son  of 
Seth  (a.d.  6-15),  was  the  ninth  of  these  (Luke  iii.  2), 
installed  by  the  procurator  Quirinus,  and  afterwards  dis- 
missed from  office  by  Valerius  Gratus.  He  enjoyed  great 
respect  and  had  much  influence,  even  after  his  deposition, 
so  that  all  his  five  sons  afterwards  attained  the  rank  of 
High  Priests.  At  the  time  when  Jesus  suffered,  the  son-in- 
law  of  Annas,  Joseph  Caiaphas,  (from  about  a.d.  18-36) 
was  actually  in  office,  and  the  statement  in  Luke  iii.  2.  is 
not  strictly  exact,  since  Annas  at  the  time  only  held  the 
position,  title,  and  vote  of  a  High  Priest  in  the  Sanhedrin 


THE  SANHEDRIN  AND  THE  HIGH  PRIESTS.  97 

(Matthew  xxvi.  3,  57,  John  xi.  49,  xviii.  13).  If,  according 
to  the  evangehst  John,  Jesus  was  first  of  all  brought 
before  Annas  (John  xviii.  13),  this  must  certainly  be 
understood  of  a  private  examination;  and  if  Annas  is 
often  mentioned  before  Caiaphas  (Acts  iv.  6,  Luke  iii.  2), 
the  reason  of  this  is  probably  to  be  found  in  his  powerful 
personality  and  great  influence.  The  imperious  and 
violent  High  Priest  Ananias  (a.d.  47-59)  was  the  leader  of 
the  Sanhedrin  when  Paul  had  to  answer  for  himself  before 
it.  The  last  who  held  the  office  was  Phanias  (a.d.  67-68). 
He  was  of  the  illustrious  priestly  race,  and  was  appointed 
by  the  people  themselves  in  the  period  of  the  Jewish 
wars. 

For  the  reason  that  the  secular  power  of  the  Romans 
and  the  Herods  was  superior  to  the  office  of  High  Priest, 
and  dealt  with  it  arbitrarily — and  because  many  of  its 
occupants  showed  themselves  unworthy  of  it,  degrading 
themselves  by  intrigues  against  one  another  and  by  greed, 
rapacity,  and  luxury — this  highest  position  in  Israel,  the 
high  priesthood,  gradually  sank  and  decayed.  And  thus 
the  author  of  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  could  with 
especial  emphasis  contrast  Jesus  Christ,  as  the  true  and 
eternal  High  Priest,  with  the  Jewish  priesthood  (Hebrews 
ii.  17,  iii.  I,  &c.) 


H 


98 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


IV. 


The  Scribes. 


After  the  return  from  captivity,  the  written  Law  of 
Moses  was  more  than  ever  held  sacred  as  the  Law  of  God, 
and  piety  was  made  to  consist  in  the  strictest  conformity 
with  its  precepts.  To  the  Pentateuch  were  added  in  time 
the  prophetic  and  the  rest  of  the  sacred  Books,  so  that 
a  three-fold  division  arose,  which  must  have  been  made 
before  the  time  of  Christ,  since  it  is  mentioned  in  the  New 
Testament  as  already  existing  (Luke  xxiv.  44).  The  first 
division  was  called  the  ^  Law,'  that  is,  the  whole  of  the 
five  Books  of  Moses,  or  the  Pentateuch.  The  second 
division  was  composed  of  the  so-called  '  Prophets,'  which 
were  subdivided  into  the  '  earher,'  that  is,  the  historical 
books,  containing  an  account  of  the  ministry  of  the  older 
prophets ;  and  the  '  later,'  which  included  the  first  three 
greater  and  the  twelve  minor  prophetical  writings,  leaving 
out  the  Book  of  Daniel  (compare  Matthew  vii.  1 2,  xi.  1 3, 
Luke  xvi.  16).  The  third  division  consisted  of  the  so-called 
^Sacred  Writings^  (hagiographa),  which  included  the  rest 
of  the  canonical  Scriptures,  and  was  sometimes  called  the 
Psalms,  after  its  most  important  part  (Luke  xxiv.  44).  This 
classification  is  mentioned  in  the  prologue  to  the  Book  of 
Ecclesiasticus,  and  in  the  second  Book  of  Maccabees 
(chap.  ii.  13);   and  Josephus^^  enumerates  twenty-two 


THE  SCRIBES. 


99 


Books  as  canonical,  in  which  number — regard  being 
had  to  the  difference  between  the  ancient  Hebrew  com- 
bination and  arrangement  of  the  Books  and  that  in  our 
Authorized  Version — we  find  all  the  writings  of  the  Old 
Testament  now  held  to  be  Divine  records.  At  a  later 
time  twenty-four  canonical  Books  were  reckoned,  but  this 
w^as  only  by  separating  certain  Books  which  Josephus 
joined  together. 

The  remaining  writings,  which  are  now  left  out  of  most 
of  our  Bibles,  were  of  more  recent  date  and  were  held  in 
less  esteem  ;  they  were  called  '  apocryphal^^  that  is,  unca- 
nonical  books,  and  were  not  read  in  public  worship. 

After  the  canon  was  settled,  the  conscientious  study 
and  practice  of  Biblical  precepts,  and  especially  the  rules 
of  the  Law  was  held  in  ever  increasing  estimation,  and 
extended  even  to  the  observance  of  particular  words.  As 
the  words  required  exposition,  and  the  old  Hebrew 
language  of  the  Scriptures  had  for  the  most  part  become 
an  unknown  tongue,  and  needed  translation  and  explana- 
tion, an  order  of  men  was  formed  who  were  called  Scribes^ 
that  is,  men  learned  in  the  Law.  Their  mission  was  to 
penetrate  to  the  sense  of  the  Sacred  Writings,  and  espe- 
cially that  of  the  Law,  which  was  held  to  be  absolutely 
inspired ;  to  interpret  and  apply  it ;  to  define  exactly  all 
that  was  not  expressly  prescribed  ;  and  thus  to  lay  down 
exact  and  legal  rules  for  all  the  circumstances  and  condi- 
tions of  fife. 

In  the  New  Testament  this  class  of  men  are  often 
referred  to  ;  as  "  Scribes  "  (grammateis,  Matthew  ii.  4) ; 
as  "  men  learned  in  the  law  "  ( nomikoi,  Luke  vii.  30) ;  or 
as  "teachers  of  the  law"  ( nomodidaskaloi,  Luke  v.  17, 


100 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


Acts  V.  34).  The  title  of  honour  that  was  accorded  to 
them  declared  their  importance  and  rank.  They  were 
generally  addressed  as  "Rab"  or  "Rabbi"  (Matthew 
xxiii.  7),  which  is  best  translated  "  Master "  or  "  my 
Master,"  and  reminds  us  of  the  Roman  "  Magister." 
With  still  higher  significance  they  were  called  "  Rabban  " 
or  "Rabboni,"  and  on  some  occasions  Jesus  was  thus 
addressed  (Mark  x.  51,  John  xx.  16).^^  The  New  Testa- 
ment renders  the  Hebrew  title  often  by  "  Lord  "  {Kyrios, 
Matthew  viii.  25);  or  "Teacher"  (didaskalos^  Matthew 
viii.  19) ;  or  "Master"  {epistates,  Luke  v.  5,  viii.  24).  The 
Scribes  were  also  very  wiUing  to  be  called  "Father" 
(pater^  abba,  Matthew  xxiii.  9) ;  and  indeed  they  were  not 
only  eager  for  such  honours,  but  they  desired  from  their 
pupils  and  the  people  generally  more  deference  than  was 
due  from  a  son  to  a  father.  They  insisted  on  taking  the 
first  place  everywhere,  at  table  as  well  as  in  the  schools 
and  synagogues,  and  demanded  to  be  saluted  by  the 
people  in  the  open  streets  and  market  places  (Matthew 
xxiii.  6,  Mark  xii.  38,  &c.) 

Their  knowledge,  as  we  have  seen,  was  often  turned  to 
account  in  the  Sanhedrin,  and  certainly  also  in  the  smaller 
or  local  councils,  as  men  versed  in  the  Law  and  in  the 
Scriptures  ;  and  thus  as  juristic  assistants.  It  was  the 
Scribes  too,  principally,  who  as  preachers  in  the  schools 
and  synagogues  interpreted  and  applied  the  Scriptures  for 
the  edification  of  the  religious  hfe  :  and  lastly  they  acted 
as  teachers  in  the  educational  institutions  in  which  youths 
were  trained  to  become  men  learned  in  the  Law.  They 
had  their  special  lecture  or  teaching  rooms,  one  of  which 
for  example  was  in  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  (Luke  ii.  46, 


THE  SCRIBES. 


101 


XX.  I,  Matthew  xxvi.  55,  John  xviii.  20) ;  and  here  it  was 
where  Jesus,  at  twelve  years  old,  by  his  questions  and 
answers  attracted  so  much  attention  (Luke  ii.  46) ;  and 
where  he  afterwards  delivered  many  of  his  most  powerful 
addresses  to  the  people  (Luke  xx.  i).    During  the  hours 
of  instruction  the  pupils  usually  sat  on  the  floor,  and  the 
teacher  in  an  elevated  position,  so  that  it  could  be  appro- 
priately said  of  St.  Paul  that  he  sat  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel 
(Acts  xxii.  3).    The  method  of  instruction  consisted  not 
so  much  in  set  addresses  as  in  questions  which  the  teacher 
brought  forward  to  be  answered  by  the  pupils,  or,  when 
necessary,  by  himself;  but  the  pupils  also  were  allowed  to 
put  questions  on  their  part  (Luke  ii.  46).    Two  things 
were  especially  demanded  from  every  pupil :  to  faithfully 
preserve  all  that  he  was  taught  in  his  memory,  and  to 
transmit  the  doctrine  exactly  as  he  received  it  from  the 
teacher.  The  learned  labour  of  the  Scribes  was  gratuitous, 
and  the  saying  of  Rabbi  Zadok  had  great  weight :  "  Do 
not  make  the  Law  a  crown  with  which  to  make  a  show  of 
yourself,  nor  a  hoe  to  till  with."    Thus  it  was  a  rule  that 
the  Scribe  should  be  acquainted  with  some  trade  or 
business  in  order,  if  necessary,  to  earn  his  own  bread  by 
manual  labour.    Rabbi  Hillel  therefore  obtained  his  living 
as  a  day-labourer  ;  Joshua  was  a  needle-maker  ;  Jochanan, 
a  shoe-maker      and  it  is  well  known  that  the  Apostle 
Paul,  even  on  his  arduous  missionary  journeys,  earned  his 
bread  as  a  weaver  of  the  hair-cloth  of  which  tents  were 
made  (Acts  xviii.  3 ;  I.  The'ssalonians  ii.  9 ;  II.  Thessalo- 
nians  iii.  8).   But  nevertheless  many  of  the  Scribes  appear 
to  have  obtained  payment  for  their  spiritual  labour ;  and 
to  them  the  Master's  words  may  have  applied  :  "  They 


102 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


devour  widows'  houses  "  (Mark  xii.  40).  And  in  the  Hfe 
of  the  Scribe  Hillel  ^"  we  are  told  that  as  a  pupil  he  had 
to  pay  an  honorarium. 

If  we  enquire  more  particularly  as  to  the  nature  of  their 
exegesis  of  the  Scriptures,  we  find  it  consisted  not  so 
much  in  simple  explanatory  exposition  as  in  punctihously 
exact  definition  and  settlement  of  the  precepts  of  the  Law, 
even  to  the  minutest  detail,  on  the  one  hand  ;  and  on  the 
other,  the  edifying  application  of  the  words  by  means  of 
free  amplification,  illustration,  and  embellishment.  Both 
kinds  of  exposition,  or  rather  of  additions  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, were  transmitted  by  oral  tradition  (Matthew  xv.  2  ; 
Mark  vii.  3) ;  and  they  formed,  as  it  were,  a  '  hedge,' 
which  protected  the  letter  of  the  Law  against  infringe- 
ment. That  part  of  tradition  which  defined  and  inter- 
preted the  Law,  or  the  Oral  Law,  was  called  the  Halacha ; 
and  this  was  held  to  be  of  equal  authority  with  the 
words  of  the  Bible  itself.  The  free  practical  exposition, 
on  the  other  hand,  which  had  no  such  binding  authority, 
was  termed  the  Haggada.  Both  the  Halacha  and  the 
Haggada  were,  at  a  later  period,  collected  and  fixed  in 
the  books  called  the  Talmud  and  the  Midrashim.  The 
Halacha  (or  Oral  Law)  is  to  be  found  more  particularly  in 
the  Talmud,  which,  as  is  well  knowr,  consists  of  two  parts, 
the  Mishna  and  Gemara.  The  Mishna  contains  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Oral  Law,  or  the  civil  and  religious  code  of 
the  Jews,  and  forms  a  kind  of  complement  to  the  Mosaic 
Law.  It  was  finally  collected  and  fixed  in  its  present 
form  by  Jehudah  Hanassi,  about  the  end  of  the  second 
century,  at  Tiberias.  The  Gemara  contains  ampHfications, 
elucidations,  and  closer  definitions  of  the  Mishna.    It  is 


THE  SCRIBES. 


103 


divided  into  two  parts,  the  Palestinian  Gemara,  which  was 
finished  about  a.d.  350,  in  Tiberias,  and  the  Babylonian 
Gemara,  which  was  concluded  about  two  hundred  years 
later,  at  Sura.  The  Haggada  is  principally  contained  in 
the  Midrashim,  especially  in  the  later  portions,  which  are 
practical  and  edifying  commentaries  upon  the  Biblical 
Books,  the  composition  of  which  began  about  the  same 
time  as  that  of  the  Mishna.  The  oldest  Midrash  may  be 
deemed  to  be  the  lately-discovered  Ethiopic  translation  of 
the  "  Book  of  Jubilees,"  which  originated,  it  is  thought,  in 
the  first  century.  The  contents  of  the  book  do  not  differ 
essentially  from  our  canonical  Genesis,  on  which  account 
it  is  sometimes  called  the  '  minor  Genesis.'  It  is  a  "  free 
reproduction  of  the  Biblical  primeval  history  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  to  the  institution  of  the  Passover, 
according  to  the  conception  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  later 
Judaism." 

The  most  celebrated  names  among  the  Scribes  in  the 
time  of  the  Maccabees,  and  down  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem,  range  themselves  in  pairs,  from  Jose  ben  Joeser 
and  Jose  ben  Jochanan  to  Hillel  and  Shammai.  The 
most  important  was,  without  doubt,  Hillel,^  who  lived 
shortly  before  the  time  of  Jesus.  His  fame  rests  not  only 
upon  the  fact  that  he  sought  to  free  men  from  exclusive 
regard  for  mere  details,  and  turned  their  attention  to  the 
Law  as  a  whole,  and  also  laid  down  certain  rules,  by  which 
the  unknown  might  be  inferred  from  the  known,  analogous 
facts  from  simihtudes,  and  things  less  important  from  the 
more  important — but  also  on  his  personal  character,  his 
comprehension  of  the  Scriptures,  and  his  wnse  and  striking 
proverbs  for  the  conduct  of  life,  which  often  remind  us 


104 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


of  Jesus  and  his  Apostles.  He  had  immigrated  from 
Babylonia  to  Palestine,  and  was  compelled  to  maintain 
himself  by  hard  labour ;  but  by  talent  and  industry  he 
rose  to  the  greatest  distinction  among  the  Jewish  doctors 
of  the  Law  of  his  own  and  every  other  time.  His  dis-  * 
position  was  mild  and  gentle,  and  he  exhibited  these 
qualities  in  his  interpretation  of  the  Law.  His  great  con- 
temporary, Shammai,  was  the  very  opposite  of  him ;  his 
character,  like  his  doctrine,  was  rugged  and  austere ;  he 
represented  the  rigour  of  the  Law  and  the  duty  of  literal 
fulfilment.  Thus  he  taught  and  ruled  that  the  smallest 
child,  even  the  baby  at  the  breast,  should  be  made  to  fast 
on  the  great  Day  of  Atonement.  Tradition  says,  that  in 
those  days,  and  as  long  as  the  strife  between  the  two  schools 
of  Shammai  and  Hillel  lasted,  it  was  as  if  the  Law  were 
divided  into  two  irreconcilable  doctrines.  Nevertheless, 
the  teachers  themselves  seem  to  have  been  much  more 
peaceable  with  one  another  than  might  have  been  expected 
from  the  antagonism  of  their  schools.  In  time,  the  less 
severe  views  of  Hillel  prevailed  more  and  more  in  practice ; 
but  still  there  were  people  here  and  there  who  agreed  with 
the  teaching  of  Shammai.  Of  the  later  Rabbis  who 
were  heads  of  schools,  the  grandson  of  Hillel,  the  elder 
Gamaliel,  was  one  of  the  most  famous.  He  was  a  contem- 
porary of  Jesus,  and  died  about  eighteen  years  after  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem.  He  was  held  in  such  great 
respect  that  he  was  the  first  to  receive  the  highest  title  of 
honour,  Rabban,  and  it  was  said  that  after  his  death  the 
glory  of  the  Law  had  departed.  The  supposition  that  he 
was  president  of  the  Sanhedrin  is  contradicted  by  the 
fact,  that  in  his  time  that  office  was  held  by  the  High 


THE  SCRIBES. 


105 


Priest  for  the  time  being.  To  Christians  he  is  known  as 
the  teacher  of  the  Apostle  Paul  (Acts  xxii.  3),  and  by  his 
judgment  respecting  Christianity  when  Peter  and  other 
Apostles  stood  before  the  High  Council :  "  If  this  work 
be  of  men,  it  will  come  to  nought  ;  if  it  be  of  God,  ye 
cannot  overthrow  it "  (Acts  v.  38,  39).  Christian  tradi- 
tion, on  account  of  this  saying  of  his,  has,  without  due 
warrant,  represented  him  as  favourable  to  Christianity, 
and,  indeed,  as  having  been  baptized  by  Peter  and  John. 

In  comparison  with  these  great  men  the  other  Scribes 
are  thrown  into  the  shade.  But  the  theoretical  and 
practical  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures,  especially  of  the 
Law,  was  the  common  task  of  all  of  them ;  and  excellent 
and  honourable  was  the  object  that  they  earnestly  sought 
to  attain  in  their  theological  and  juristic  colleges,  or  in 
their  homiletic  addresses  in  the  synagogues — the  preserva- 
tion of  the  Mosaic  religion  in  its  purity,  and  the  regulation 
and  maintenance  of  the  life  of  the  people  in  accordance 
with  the  Law.  But  on  the  other  hand  it  must  be  said 
against  them  that,  in  the  time  of  Jesus  especially,  the 
method  by  which  they  sought  to  accomplish  their  purpose 
was  false  and  corrupt.  Instead  of  apprehending  the  word 
of  the  Scriptures  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  the  constant  endea- 
vour was  to  enforce  all  that  pertained  to  the  Law  outwardly, 
and  according  to  the  Hteral  sense,  or  the  mere  sound  of 
the  words.  The  Law  was  expounded  ;  that  is,  the  great 
point  was  how  the  simple  Law  could  be  made  applicable 
to  all  imaginable  circumstances  of  the  manifold  life  of 
man  ;  and  .the  result  was  a  subtilty,  a  slavery  to  the  letter, 
and  a  casuistry,  which  often  verges  on  absurdity  and 
imbecility. 


106 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


No  doubt  Jesus  refers  ironically  to  this  where  he  asks 
(Matthew  xii,  ii)  what  was  to  be  done  if  a  sheep  fell  into 
a  pit  on  the  Sabbath  day,  since  he  well  knew  that  one 
party  thought  that  a  man  should  let  him  remain  there 
until  the  Sabbath  was  past,  and  the  other  that  he  ought 
straightway  to  pull  him  out.  Such  questions  were  seriously 
considered,  as  whether  any  assistance  should  be  given  to 
a  cow  if  she  was  calving  on  the  Sabbath,  and  if  on  that 
day  a  man  ought  to  bring  water  to  an  animal,  or  the 
animal  to  the  water.  The  sanctification  of  the  Sabbath 
was  carried  out  in  the  most  rigorous  and  punctilious  way 
(Matthew  xii.  12) ;  no  battle  must  be  fought  on  that  day 
(I.  Maccabees  ii.  34-38) ;  the  utmost  that  was  permitted 
was  to  fight  in  self-defence  (I.  Maccabees  ii.  40);  no 
journey  must  be  made  to  a  greater  distance  than  two 
thousand  cubits,  or  six-tenths  of  a  mile,  the  so-called 
Sabbath  day's  journey  ;  and  all  labour  must  cease.  There 
were  thirty-nine  particular  works  which  the  Rabbis 
strictly  prohibited  on  the  Sabbath ;  such  as  to  sow,  to 
plough,  to  tie  or  untie  a  knot,  to  sew  two  stitches,  to  kindle 
or  extinguish  a  fire,  to  bear  fire  from  one  place  to  another, 
and  so  forth.  And  each  of  these  prohibitions  was  made 
the  subject  of  special  interpretation  and  exact  definition. 
Not  only  so,  but  such  actions  as  might  by  possibility  lead 
to  a  transgression  of  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  were  forbid- 
den. Thus  the  writer  must  not  go  out  with  his  pen,  nor 
the  tailor  with  his  needle,  in  the  evening  before  the 
Sabbath  day,  since  he  might  forget  it  and  bear  it  about 
with  him  after  sunset  and  thus  when  the  Sabbath  had 
begun.  The  most  that  was  allowed  on  the  Sabbath  was 
circumcision  (John  vii.  22),  assistance  to  women  in  labour, 


THE  SCRIBES. 


107 


and  help  to  anyone  in  danger  of  losing  his  life.  And  yet 
we  learn  from  the  life  of  Jesus,  that  the  over-zealous  Jews 
regarded  his  healing  of  diseases  on  the  Sabbath  as  a 
profanation  (Matthew  xii.  lo,  Mark  iii.  i-6,  &c.)  Although 
it  was  allowable  to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn  from  the  field 
to  satisfy  hunger,  it  was  held  to  be  strictly  unlawful  on  the 
Sabbath  (Luke  vi.  2).  In  order  the  more  surely  to  avoid 
the  misuse  of  the  name  of  God,  the  utterance  of  it — Jehovah 
or  Jahveh — was  absolutely  forbidden ;  and  where  it 
occurred  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  Adonai'^  was  read 
instead  of  it,  (in  the  Septuagint,  "  Kyrios^'  that  is,  Lord.) 
The  obhgation  to  pay  tithe  was  extended  even  to  herbs, 
such  as  mint,  anise,  &c.,  in  order  that  the  law  on  the 
subject  might  be  most  punctiliously  fulfilled  (Matthew 
xxiii.  23.)  When  Jesus  said,  "Ye  strain  at  a  knat  and 
swallow  a  camel,"  he  referred  to  the  habit  of  the  strict 
Jews  of  filtering  their  wine,  in  order  not  to  swallow  any 
little  insect  that  might  have  been  drowned  in  it.  In  the 
same  passage  our  Lord  condemns  the  Scribes  for  their 
exaggerated  purifications  (Matthew  xxiii.  25).  Here  the 
questions  were,  what  vessels  were  clean  or  unclean,  and 
what  water  was  proper  for  the  various  kinds  of  purifica- 
tion, for  sprinkling  the  hands,  for  the  immersion  of  uten- 
sils, and  for  baths.  And  in  respect  to  the  washing  of 
hands  the  question  was  thoroughly  discussed — what  vessel 
it  must  be  done  in,  who  should  pour  in  or  pour  out  the 
water,  in  what  manner  a  man  should  immerse  the  hands, 
whether  he  should  hold  them  with  the  palms  upwards  or 
downwards,  wash  them  as  far  as  the  knuckles,  or  only  the 
tips  of  the  fingers.  Scrupulous  attention  was  given  to 
the  three  mementoes,  by  which  every  Israehte  ought  con- 


108 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


tinually  to  remind  himself  of  his  rehgious  duties ;  the 
tassels  or  fringes  on  the  four  corners  of  his  mantle  (the 

zizit/i"  Deuteronomy  xxii.  12,  ISIatthew  xxiii.  5);  the 
so-called  '  viesusa^^  a  small  case  or  box  which  was  fixed 
to  the  door  posts,  and  contained  a  roll  of  parchment  on 
which  were  inscribed,  in  twenty  two  Hnes,  passages  from 
Deuteronomy  (chap.  vi.  4-9,  and  xi.  13-21) ;  and  the  'phy- 
lacteries '  (Hebrew,  tephilli?iy )  ^  that  is,  strips  of  parch- 
ment on  which  certain  texts  of  Scripture  (Exodus  xiii.  i-io, 
11-16,  Deuteronomy  vi.  4-9,  xi.  18-21)  were  inscribed, 
and  enclosed  in  a  small  leather  case,  which  was  fastened 
with  straps  on  the  forehead  and  on  the  left  arm,  near  the 
heart,  to  denote  the  keeping  of  the  Law  with  head  and 
heart  (Matthew  xxiii.  5).  Here  it  was  held  to  be  of  the 
greatest  consequence  to  determine  exactly  how  many 
threads  the  tassels  or  fringes  must  consist  of,  how  the 
paragraphs  of  the  mesusa  were  to  be  written,  and  what 
should  be  the  proper  length  of  the  straps  of  the  fephillin. 

Prayer  was  confined  to  outward  forms,  so  that  it  was 
hardly  spoken  of  as  the  free  communion  of  the  heart  with 
God.  The  Jewish  confession  of  faith  (called  the  '  she^na* 
Deut.  vi.  4-9  and  xi.  13-21,  Numbers  xv.  37-41),  and  the 
appended  thanksgivings  were  the  principal  prayer  of  the 
Jews.  Strict  rules  were  laid  down  as  to  how  often  and  at 
what  hours  it  was  to  be  said.  The  times  held  to  be  right 
and  most  pleasing  to  God  were  the  third  hour  (Acts  ii. 
15),  the  sixth  (Acts  x.  9),  and  the  ninth  (Acts  iii.  i  and  x.  30). 
The  question  was  debated  whether,  and  under  what  cir- 
cumstances, a  man  might  greet  another  during  the  repeti- 
tion of  the  ^  sJiema.'  The  most  zealous,  if  the  right 
moment  had  come,  prayed  in  the  midst  of  the  streets,  or 


THE  SCRIBES. 


109 


at  the  corners  ;  but  unfortunately  this  was  often  only  done 
to  be  seen  and  praised  of  men  (Matthew  vi.  5).  And  if 
it  was  a  beautiful  custom  to  give  thanks  to  God  at  meals, 
this,  too,  was  regulated  down  to  the  minutest  detail,  and 
proper  forms  were  settled  for  use  when  partaking  of  wine 
or  fruit,  of  bread  or  vegetables.  Great  diligence  was 
demanded  in  prayer ;  but  if  the  Jews  often  only  prayed 
externally,  and  for  the  sake  of  fulfilling  the  Law — and  if 
the  saying  of  Isaiah  applied  to  them  :  "This  people  draw 
near  me  with  their  mouth,  and  with  their  lips  do  honour 
me,  but  have  removed  their  heart  far  from  me,  and  their 
fear  of  me  is  taught  by  the  precept  of  men  "  (Isaiah  xxix. 
13 ;  Matthew  xv.  7) — had  they  not  their  full  reward  in  the 
mere  praise  of  men  ?  In  the  same  way  fasting  was  made 
a  bare  external  performance  in  those  days.  The  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  attached  great  importance  to  it  (Matthew 
ix.  14 ;  Luke  v.  33).  The  proper  days  for  it  were  held 
to  be  the  second  and  fifth  in  the  week,  because  on  the 
one  Moses  ascended  into  the  mountain,  and  on  the  other 
descended  from  it.  Besides  these  there  were  extraordi- 
nary fast  days,  as  for  example,  when  the  commencement 
of  the  rainy  season  was  delayed.  Indeed  many  observed 
additional  fasts  of  their  own  free  will,  and  some  fasted 
the  whole  year  through  on  the  days  named,  like  the 
Pharisee,  who  boasted :  "  I  fast  twice  in  the  week  "  (Luke 
xviii.  12).  How  fondly  they  thought  by  such  bodily 
chastisement,  to  make  merit  before  God,  and  to  induce 
Him  to  pour  out  His  blessing  upon  them  !  Jesus  did  not 
take  upon  himself  the  yoke  of  this  external,  regular  and 
periodical  fasting  (Matthew  ix.  14  and  xi.  19) ;  but  he 
recognized  the  religious  importance  of  fasting  when  it  is 


110 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


true  and  real,  that  is,  when  it  is  the  expression  of  genuine 
inward  humility  before  God,  in  contrition  of  heart  and 
earnest  seeking  of  His  face.  In  the  sermon  on  the 
mount  he  speaks  of  such  fasting  along  with  prayer  as  a 
voluntary  and  secret  act  of  the  soul  before  God  alone 
(Matthew  vi.  i6) ;  and  in  another  place  he  plainly  implies 
that  there  are  seasons  when  abstinence  from  food  may 
not  only  be  a  natural  act,  but  also  a  means  of  grace 
(Matthew  ix.  15).  At  the  same  time  he  spoke  earnestly 
against  fasting  when  it  was  a  mere  external  work,  and  the 
expression  of  a  hypocritical  and  sanctimonious  spirit. 

It  is  certain  however  that  there  were  Scribes  who  strove 
with  all  their  heart  after  the  true  fulfilment  of  the  Law, 
and  in  many  a  deep  and  true  saying  which  has  come 
down  to  us  they  insist  on  inward  religiousness.  For 
example,  Antigonus  of  Socho  says  that  we  ought  to  be 
like  those  servants  who  render  service  regardless  of 
reward;  and  Rabbi  Juda  urges  us  to  be  "courageous  as 
a  leopard  and  alert  as  an  eagle,  swift  as  a  hart  and  strong 
as  a  lion,  to  do  the  will  of  our  Father  in  heaven  !"  But 
on  the  whole  it  was  mere  sanctimonious  outward  works 
that  the  Scribes  commanded,  and  they  laid  heavy  unbear- 
able burdens  on  men's  shoulders  (Matthew  xxiii.  4  ;  Luke 
xi.  46).  The  mere  outward  form  of  the  Law  was  esteemed 
above  all  things ;  its  inward  spirit  and  vitality  were 
neglected  ;  the  outward  keeping  of  fast  and  festival  days, 
the  paying  of  tithes,  and  the  various  ceremonial  purifica- 
tions had  become  the  main  things.  The  root  of  the 
matter,  that  is,  a  religious  and  moral  heart  and  life,  was 
slighted  (Matthew  xxiii.  25).  It  was,  however,  just  this 
bondage  to  the  letter,  and  this  mechanical  outward  right- 


THE  SCRIBES. 


Ill 


eousness,  which  demanded  a  thorough  renewal  of  the  true 
worship  of  Jehovah,  and  a  new  conception  of  rehgion  in 
spirit  and  in  truth  (John  iv.  23,  24). 

The  true  and  complete  understanding  of  the  Law  was 
first  disclosed  by  Jesus,  who  "taught  as  one  having 
authority,  and  not  as  the  Scribes"  (Matthew  vii.  29). 
He  stated  clearly  the  real  scope  and  design  of  the  Old 
Testament,  the  sanctification  of  man  and  the  restoration 
of  fellowship  with  God ;  he  set  fully  in  the  light  the 
eternal  meaning  and  value  of  the  Law ;  and  while 
liberating  men  from  the  yoke  of  mere  outward  forms  and 
rules,  he  demanded  at  the  same  time  the  true  fulfilment 
of  the  Law  in  willing  obedience  towards  God  proceeding 
from  faith  and  love.  Of  course  for  this  he  had  to  bear 
the  enmity  of  the  teachers  of  the  Law ;  they  watched  to 
see  whether  he  would  do  anything  against  its  precepts 
(Luke  vi.  7  and  xi.  54) ;  they  murmured  condemnation 
of  his  sayings,  habits,  and  practices,  (Matthew  ix.  3, 
Luke  V.  30  and  xv.  2),  and  sought  to  entrap  him  by 
cunningly  devised  questions  (Matthew  xxii.  35,  Luke  x. 
25) ;  and  if  at  first  they  could  prevail  nothing  against 
him,  the  animosity  of  their  hearts  increased,  which  at  last 
doomed  him  to  death  (Luke  xx.  19  and  xix.  48). 


112 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


V. 

Religious  life  among  the  Jews. 

What  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  chapter  will  have 
shown  that  the  most  powerful  interest  felt  among  the 
higher  rank  of  Jews,  in  the  Sanhedrin  and  by  the  Scribes, 
was  in  the  traditional  Mosaic  rehgion  and  the  Law.  If 
we  take  a  wider  outlook  we  shall  ascertain  how  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  whole  people  also  turned  upon  their 
religion  and  their  Law.    The  local  centre  of  the  entire 
religious  life  of  the  people  was  the  Temple  in  Jerusalem. 
The  centres  of  union  for  individual  congregations  were 
the  synagogues  or  schools.    Almost  the  only  merit  of 
Herod  the  Great  in  the  eyes  of  the  Jews  was  that  long 
after  the  temple  of  Solomon  had  been  destroyed,  and 
when  the  second  Temple,  built  after  the  return  from 
captivity  under  Zerubbabel,  appeared  to  him  to  be  insuffi- 
cient and  wanting  in  grandeur,  he  rebuilt  it  on  a  larger 
scale  and  with  royal  splendour,  beginning  the  great  work 
about  twenty  years  before  the  Christian  era.    It  stood  on 
the  east  side  of  Jerusalem,  ^^'^  and  was  surrounded  on  the 
south,  west,  and  north,  by  parts  of  the  city.    On  the  east 
and  north  the  hill  on  which  the  Temple  was  built,  was 
inaccessible ;  on  the  west  a  gate  opening  to  the  '  bridge 
of  Christ,'  which  spanned  the  valley  of  the  Tyropaeon, 
connected  it  with  Mount  Zion ;  besides  which  two  gates 
to  the  north  of  the  bridge  led  down  into  the  City  across 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  113 

the  separating  valley.  To  the  south  of  the  bridge  was 
another  gate  with  a  flight  of  steps  leading  down  into  the 
Tyropoeon,  where  the  depression  in  the  ground  was 
greater,  and  from  thence,  according  to  Josephus,  up  into 
the  City.  The  entire  Temple-area  was  enclosed  with  a 
quadrangular  wall,  each  side  being  a  furlong,  or  about 
200  yards,  in  length,  through  which  several  gates  afforded 
entrance  and  exit.  From  hence  the  several  buildings  of 
the  Temple  rose  in  the  form  of  terraces,  one  court  being 
placed  within  and  higher  than  another,  and  the  House 
itself,  or  the  Temple  properly  so  called,  on  the  highest 
level  of  all,  and  on  its  northern  side  ;  so  that  when  the 
white  marble  of  which  it  was  built  and  the  gold  with 
which  it  was  adorned  glittered  in  the  sun-light,  it  could  be 
seen  not  only  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Jerusalem,  but  from 
a  long  way  off.  In  going  up  to  the  Temple  the  first  part 
reached  was  the  Outer  Place,  or  "  Court  of  the  Lord^s 
House"  (Ezekiel  xl.  17;  Jeremiah  xix.  14,  xxvi.  2), 
called  by  later  writers  the  "Court  of  the  Gentiles," 
because  non-Israelites  were  permitted  to  enter  it,  their 
further  advance  being  forbidden  on  pain  of  death  by 
Greek  and  Latin  inscriptions  affixed  to  the  columns. 
It  was  paved  with  stone  of  various  colours,  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  covered  arcade  or  colonnade,  roofed  with 
cedar,  resting  on  massive  white  marble  columns  of  the 
Corinthian  order.  From  this  outer  court  a  flight  of  nine- 
teen steps  led  to  the  next  terrace  or  platform,  the  more 
sacred  hmits  of  which  were  fenced  off  by  a  low  balustrade 
of  stone.  Here  was  the  second  court  or  "  Court  of  the 
Women,"  separated  from  that  of  the  men  by  a  wall,  beyond 
which  the  women  were  not  allowed  to  proceed  ;  and  here 

I 


114 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


it  is  thought  was  the  "  Beautiful  Gate "  of  the  Temple 
(Acts  iii.  2).  From  this  second  court  another  flight  of 
fifteen  steps  led  to  the  "  Court  of  the  Israelites."  A  stone 
balustrade  separated  this  from  the  '  Court  of  the  Priests,* 
which  surrounded  the  Temple  properly  so  called,  and  in 
which  the  great  Altar  of  Burnt-offering  stood.  The  Tem- 
ple proper,  or  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  the  Inner  Temple, 
was  a  rectangular  edifice  of  about  forty  yards  long  by 
twenty-five  broad,  but  having  wings  at  the  front,  which 
made  the  facade  of  the  vestibule  equal  in  breadth  to  the 
length  of  the  main  building.  Another  flight  of  steps  led 
from  the  court  of  the  priests  to  the  vestibule,  the  front  of 
which  was  adorned  with  a  golden  vine  of  colossal  size,  an 
emblem  of  the  Promised  Land.  An  entrance  with  gilded 
folding  doors,  and  hung  besides  with  a  richly  embroidered 
curtain  or  veil  of  tapestry  work,  led  to  the  Holy  Place,  in 
which  were  the  Table  of  Shew-bread,  the  Seven-branched 
Candlestick,  and  the  Altar  of  Incense.  The  '  Holiest  of 
All,'  which  was  quite  empty,  was  divided  from  the  Holy 
Place  by  another  curtain ;  and  this  was  the  '  veil  of  the 
Temple' which,  when  Jesus  died,  was  "rent  in  twain  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom"  (Matthew  xxvii.  51). 

This  Temple  formed  the  religious  centre  of  the  nation, 
and  the  whole  people  looked  up  to  it  with  holy  reverence 
as  the  visible  dwelling-place  of  the  invisible  God.  The 
ground  on  which  it  stood  was,  to  the  Jew,  holy  ground, 
and  the  greatest  horror  that  he  could  imagine  was  the 
"abomination  of  desolation"  set  up  in  the  Holy  Place 
— the  desecration  of  the  majestic  Temple.  Every  man 
among  the  people  was  determined  to  defend  it  to  the 
last,  and  hence  the  extraordinary  and  desperate  efforts 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  AMONG  THE  JEWS,  115 

that  the  Jews  made  when  the  city  was  besieged  by  the 
Romans,  at  least  to  save  their  Holy  Place. 

To  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Temple,  and  there  to  pray 
and  offer  sacrifice,  was  to  every  worshipper  of  Jehovah 
the  most  glorious  and  soul-quickening  privilege  of  all  his 
hfe.  Not  only  at  the  seasons  of  the  great  festivals,  but 
also  at  other  times,  there  was  a  crowd  of  Jews  from  all 
Palestine  and  from  foreign  parts,  often  numbering 
hundreds  of  thousands,  in  Jerusalem.  Hither  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  provinces  carried  their  first-fruits ;  hither 
the  Israelites  of  Palestine  and  those  dispersed  about  the 
world  brought  their  due  contributions  or  their  free-will 
offerings  for  the  Temple ;  and  here  in  the  outer  Court  of 
the  Temple  was  the  place  where  all  countries  and  all 
languages  were  represented,  where  the  Herodians  were 
accustomed  to  address  the  people,  and  where  Jesus  also 
delivered  some  of  his  most  exalted  discourses. 

For  the  convenience  of  worshippers  at  the  feasts,  and 
to  enable  them  easily  to  procure  the  proper  animals,  etc., 
for  the  sacrifices,  a  regular  Temple  market  was  held  in 
the  Outer  Court,  or  "Court  of  the  Gentiles."  Oxen, 
sheep,  and  doves  were  kept  for  sale,  and  the  money- 
changers offered  the  proper  currency  in  exchange  for 
pagan  Roman,  or  Greek  money,  which  was  unlawful  in 
the  Temple  (John  ii.  14,  Matthew  xxi.  12).  In  other 
parts  of  the  Temple  there  were  rooms  in  which  worship- 
pers could  perform  their  devotions  and  vows ;  in  the 
Paved  Hall,  or  "  Hall  of  Squares,"  the  Sanhedrin  assem- 
bled ;  in  other  chambers,  or  halls,  the  Scribes  taught  and 
disputed  (Luke  ii.  46). 

The  persons  who  had  charge  of  the  Temple,  a  great 


116 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


company  of  whom  were  always  in  residence,  were  the 
priests,  whose  duty  it  was  to  mediate  between  the  people 
and  God.  The  descendants  of  Aaron  were  designated 
for  the  principal  services  of  the  Holy  Place ;  next  to 
them  stood  the  rest  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  who  were 
selected  for  secondary  duties,  such  as  the  watching  and 
care  of  the  Temple,  the  performance  of  the  music,  the 
collection  of  dues,  and  rendering  assistance  in  various 
ways  at  the  sacrifices ;  for  the  lowest  duties  there  were 
special  servants.  The  religious  importance  and  dignity 
of  the  priestly  order  had  certainly  declined  in  the  time  of 
Jesus,  and  they  were  much  more  conscious  of  being  a 
privileged  class,  as  if  they  were  the  nobility  of  the  nation, 
than  of  being  the  mediators  between  God  and  the 
people  ;  but  notwithstanding  the  priesthood  continued  to 
be  an  indispensable  institution  of  religion,  and  they  were 
not  without  a  decided  influence  over  the  multitude.  All 
the  priests  did  not  dwell  in  the  Temple  itself;  many 
resided  in  other  parts  of  the  city ;  others  in  the  provinces, 
in  the  'cities  of  the  Levites,'  as  they  were  called;  or  in 
places  not  far  from  the  capital.  Zacharias,  for  example, 
the  father  of  John  the  Baptist,  had  his  home  in  the  city 
of  Juda,  in  the  "  hill  country  "  (Luke  i.  39). 

The  head  of  the  priesthood  was  the  High  Priest, who 
was  assisted  in  all  religious  affairs  by  a  council  of  priests ; 
but  immediately  under  his  control  was  the  '  captain,'  or 
ruler,  '  of  the  Temple '  and  a  great  number  of  lower 
officials.  Among  the  latter  there  was  one  whose  duty  it 
was  to  keep  the  times  for  service ;  another  for  the  opening 
and  closing  of  the  doors ;  one  who  was  over  the  Temple 
watch,  another  who  was  over  the  singers;  and  various 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  117 

Others  again  ^\ho  superintended  the  sacrifices,  incensing, 
€tc.  The  many  official  duties  were  distributed  among  the 
priests  by  lot,  such  as  the  kindling  of  the  censors  contain- 
ing the  incense,  the  maintenance  of  the  fire  upon  the 
Altar  of  Burnt-offering,  the  examination  of  persons  who 
were  ceremonially  unclean,  more  especially  lepers 
{Matthew  viii.  4,  Luke  xvii.  14).  A  priestly  choir  of 
singers  and  instrumentahsts  provided  for  the  musical 
part  of  Divine  Service  and  announced  the  particular 
times  of  prayer  and  sacrifice  by  the  sound  of  the  trumpet. 
The  whole  priesthood  was,  as  we  have  seen  in  a  former 
chapter,  divided  into  twenty-four  classes,  of  which  that  of 
Zacharias — the  "  course  of  Abia  " — was  the  eighth  (Luke 
i.  5  j  1.  Chronicles  vii.  8  and  xxv.  10).  The  priests 
derived  their  temporal  support  from  certain  allowances 
-of  the  meat  presented  in  sacrifice,  from  offerings  of  first- 
fruits  and  from  tithes. 

In  order  to  form  an  approximate  picture  of  the  priestly 
service  in  the  Temple,  let  us  glance  at  the  Holy  Place  on 
a  week-day.  After  midnight  the  Captain  of  the  Temple 
together  with  a  number  of  priests  arose  from  their  beds 
and  with  torches  in  their  hands  went  through  the  Temple, 
examining  the  particular  courts  and  their  chambers,  in 
order  to  see  if  ever}-thing  was  in  a  state  of  preparation 
for  the  worship  at  the  dawn  of  day.  When  they  came 
upon  a  watch,  the  latter  called  out :  "  Captain,  peace  be 
with  thee  ! "  If  everything  was  in  order  the  priests 
replied  :  "  All  is  well ! "  Soon  the  rest  of  the  priests 
rose  from  their  couches,  bathed  themselves,  and  put  on 
their  official  vestments.  Then  they  proceeded  to  dis- 
tribute by  lot  the  different  priestly  functions  for  the  day. 


118 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


After  that  the  first  morning  peal  was  blown  from  the 
trumpets,  to  announce  to  the  city  lying  below  the  near 
approach  of  day.  Then  the  doors  were  opened,  and  the 
wood,  which  in  the  meantime  had  been  laid  on  the  altar 
of  burnt  offering,  was  kindled.  As  soon  as  the  watchers 
upon  the  Temple  ramparts  could  perceive  in  the  morning 
light  the  city  of  Hebron,  lying  on  the  south-east  of 
Jerusalem,  the  signal  was  given  :  The  light  shines  from 
Hebron  ! "  and  the  sacrificial  victim  for  the  morning  fell 
under  the  hand  of  the  priest ;  the  blood  was  sprinkled 
on  the  Altar,  and  the  parts  which  were  proper  for  sacrifice 
were  carried  to  the  Altar  of  Burnt-offering. 

Immediately  after  the  immolation  came  a  service  of 
prayer  with  music  and  song.  This  was  followed  by  the 
burning  of  incense  upon  the  golden  Altar,  at  which  the 
priestly  blessing  was  pronounced.  The  sacrificing  priest 
then  performed  his  functions  at  the  Altar  of  Burnt- 
offering,  while  the  Levites  sang  psalms,  accompanied  by 
the  sound  of  trumpets.^"^  About  mid-day  the  priests 
and  Levites,  except  on  fast  days,  dined.  Two  hours  and 
a  half  from  mid-day  the  evening  worship  began  with  the 
slaughter  of  the  sacrificial  lamb,  with  which  was  joined 
the  presentation  of  any  other  sacrificial  offerings.  Imme- 
diately after  sunset  the  evening  service  of  prayer  was 
closed ;  after  that,  the  vessels  were  purified  and  made 
ready  for  the  following  day  ;  and  then  there  was  nothing 
to  do  but  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  priests  who  would 
come  to  relieve  those  in  charge,  and  to  enter  on  the 
services  of  the  new  day. 

On  the  Sabbaths  and  great  feast  days  the  services  were 
similar,  but  were  celebrated  with  more  pomp  and  cere- 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE  AMONG  THE  JEWS. 


119 


mony,  especially  by  the  addition  of  longer  chants,  as  the 
song  of  Moses  (Deuteronomy  xxxii.)  and  the  song  of 
victory  (Exodus  xv.).     The  most  arduous,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  most  impressive  service  in  the  Temple 
was  that  held  on  the  great  Day  of  Atonement.    It  was 
mainly  performed  by  the  High  Priest  alone,  who  had  to 
undergo  a  seven  days'  preparation  for  it.    In  the  night 
before  the  great  day,  he  was  occupied  in  reading  or  being 
read  to,  since  for  twenty-four  hours  he  must  not  close  his 
eyes  in  sleep.     On  the   day  itself,  after  ceremonial 
bathings  and  washings,  the  golden  vestments  were  put 
on ;  then  followed  the  morning  sacrifice,  the  burning  of 
incense,  and  worship  with  prayer,  singing,  and  benedic- 
tion.   Now  came  repeated  sacred  washings,  the  putting 
on  of  white  garments  by  the  High  Priest,  and  the 
observance  of  many  various  ceremonies.     Next  took 
place  the  casting  of  lots  upon  the  two  goats,  to  decide 
which  should  be  a  sin-offering  unto  the  Lord,  and  which 
the  scape-goat  (Leviticus  xvi.).    A  young  bullock  was 
also  slain  as  a  sin-offering,  and  solemn  confession  of  sin 
made.    The  High  Priest  entered  the  Holy  of  Holies  to 
burn  incense,  and  again,  later,  to  sprinkle  first  the  blood 
of  the  young  bullock  and  afterwards  that  of  the  goat 
dedicated  to  God,  Many  particular  observances,  regulated 
to  the  minutest  detail,  concluded  the  solemnities.    It  is 
impossible  to  describe  them  all  here,  but  the  climax  of  all 
was  the  confession  of  sin,  the  entering  of  the  Holy  Place 
and  the  sprinkling  of  blood  by  the  High  Priest. 

In  the  unhappy  time  of  the  exile,  the  sacrificial  services 
in  the  Temple  were  of  course  at  an  end,  and  hence  it 
may  well  be  that  we  must  seek  in  this  epoch  of  Israeli- 


120 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


tish  history  for  the  origin  of  an  institution  of  rehgion 
among  the  Jews  which  at  the  return  of  the  people  in 
Ezra's  time  must  have  been  transplanted  into  Palestine 
— as  we  may  infer  from  Nehemiah  viii.  i  to  8 — and 
which  at  the  time  of  Jesus  was  everywhere  at  the  height 
of  its  prosperity :  the  institution  of  the  Synagogue,  or 
school  of  religion.    No  sacrifices  might  be  offered  in  the 
meeting-places  of  the  schools,  as  they  were  only  lawful  in 
the  Temple  ;  but  prayers  were  offered,  and  the  Scriptures 
were  read  and  practically  expounded.     The  principal 
object,  however,  aimed  at  in  the  Synagogue  was  the 
instruction  of  the  adult  members  of  the  congregation  in 
Biblical  history  and  doctrine,   especially  in  the  Law, 
accompanied  by  prayer  (Matthew  iv.  23;  Mark  i.  21; 
Luke  iv.  15  ;  John  vi.  59.)     At  Jerusalem  such  Jewish 
schools  were  found  in  great  numbers ;  as  many  as  four 
hundred  and  eighty  are  spoken  of ;  so  that  even  the  Jews, 
who  came  up  to  the  feasts  from  the  dispersion  in  foreign 
countries,  such  as  the  Libertines,  Cyrenians,  Alexandrians 
and  others  (Acts  vi.  9),  had  their  own  synagogues  in 
Jerusalem.    In  other  great  cities  there  were  also  several 
synagogues  (Acts  ix.  20),  and  they  were  met  with  even  in 
places  with  a  smaller  number  of  inhabitants  ;  thus  Jesus 
could  interpret  the  Scriptures  in  the  school  at  Nazareth, 
the  home  of  his  childhood  (Matthew  xiii  54 ;  Luke  iv.  16), 
or  take  the  post  of  the  teacher  in  his  favourite  city  of 
Capernaum  (Mark  i.  21)  and  elsewhere.    And,  like  him- 
self, his  Apostles  at  a  later  period  were  accustomed, 
wherever  they  came,  first  of  all  to  visit  the  Synagogue 
(Acts  xiv.  I ;  xvii.  2,  xviii.  4,  etc.).    Beside  such  schools 
which  were  built  in  the  midst  of  cities,   there  were 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  121 

places  for  prayer  open  to  the  sky,  which,  on  account  of 
the  ablutions  which  were  necessary  before  prayer,  were 
often  built  by  the  river  side  or  near  water,  as  at  Philippi 
(Acts  xvi.  13). 

The  erection  and  maintenance  of  the  Synagogue 
buildings  was  the  business  of  the  congregations ;  but 
nevertheless  they  were  sometimes  built  by  private  indi- 
viduals and  we  know  that  the  elders  of  the  Jews  in 
Capernaum  extolled  the  heathen  centurion  because  he 
had  "  built  them  a  Synagogue  "  (Luke  vii.  5).  If  we  take 
a  look  for  a  moment  into  the  audience  chamber  of  a 
Synagogue,  we  see  therein  the  *  chief  seats'  (Matthew 
xxiii.  6  ;  compare  James  ii.  3  and  Luke  iv.  1 6) ;  a  desk 
for  the  reader,  probably  a  little  elevated ;  a  chest  or  shrine, 
in  which  were  preserved  the  rolls  of  the  Holy  Books,  and 
perhaps  some  lamps  for  use  at  evening  worship.  Over 
every  such  building  was  a  *  ruler '  (Mark  v.  35,  Luke  viii. 
49),  or  principal,  whose  duty  it  was  to  attend  to  the 
external  affairs  of  the  Synagogue,  and  the  maintenance  of 
order  in  the  meetings  (Luke  xiii.  14;  Acts  xiii.  15). 
Associated  with  him  in  the  management  were  a  number 
of  men  who  were  called  '  elders  '  (Luke  vii.  3 ;  Mark  v. 
22 ;  Acts  xiii.  15).  The  servants  ('  ministers,'  Luke  iv.  20) 
performed  such  duties  as  the  opening  and  closing  of  the 
doors  of  the  Synagogue,  keeping  the  building  clean  and 
in  order,  handing  to  the  reader  for  the  day  the  roll  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  receiving  it  from  him. 

When  the  congregation,  which  was  divided  into  sections 
according  to  age  and  sex,  had  assembled,  the  service 
began  with  prayer  ;  first  of  all  the  confession  of  faith,  the 
shema,  as  it  was  called  :  "  Hear,  O  Israel :  the  Lord  our 


122 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


God  is  one  Lord !  "  &c.  (Deuteronomy  vi.  4,  &c.,  to 
which  was  added  Deuteronomy  xi.  13-21  and  Numbers 
XV.  37-41) ;  then  followed  the  proper  prayer,  the  tephilla^ 
divided  into  eighteen  parts.  The  entire  congregation 
stood  up  (Matthew  vi.  5  ;  Mark  xi.  25  ;  Luke  xviii.  11) 
with  their  faces  towards  the  Temple  in  Jerusalem  (Daniel 
vi.  10  ;  II.  Chronicles  vi.  34);  the  reader  of  the  prayer  hfted 
up  his  voice,  and  all  those  who  were  present  responded 
with  the  Amen.  Next  in  order  was  reading  the  proper 
portion  of  the  Law,  which  for  the  purposes  of  worship 
was  divided  into  a  hundred  and  fifty-four  passages  or 
lessons  which  were  read  in  order  according  to  a  fixed 
cycle.  This  office  was  not  performed  by  a  reader 
permanently  appointed,  but  any  fit  person  in  the  con- 
gregation could  take  part  in  the  duty.  When  one  or 
another  was  called  forward  by  the  ruler  or  an  elder,  he 
accepted  the  invitation  and  read  aloud  the  passage  indi- 
cated to  him.  To  the  weekly  Lesson  from  the  Law  was 
added  in  the  time  of  Jesus — at  least  in  the  Sabbath 
services  (Acts  xiii.  27) — a  stated  portion  from  the  prophets, 
the  Haphtarah,  as  it  was  called,  or  second  Lesson. As 
the  ancient  Hebrew  of  the  Scriptures  had  become  unin- 
telligible to  many,  an  interpreter  now  translated  the 
Lessons  verse  by  verse  into  the  Aramaic  dialect  of  the 
country,  after  which  what  had  been  read  was  expounded 
and  discussed  by  the  people,  all  sitting  (Luke  iv.  20). 
But  although  any  one  was  now  at  liberty  to  speak,  all 
were  not  able  to  do  so,  and  hence  it  was  that  a  Scribe  or 
any  other  suitable  person  had  an  opportunity  in  the 
Synagogues  of  turning  his  knowledge  to  advantage.  It 
is  well  known  that  in  the  Synagogue  at  Nazareth  the 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE  AMONG   THE  JEWS.  12S 

Book  of  the  Prophet  Isaiah  was  handed  to  Jesus,  and 
that  after  he  had  read  a  passage  from  chapter  Ixi.,  he 
rolled  up  the  sacred  manuscript,  gave  it  back  to  the 
*  minister '  or  servant,  and  then  sat  down  and  began 
to  discourse  about  it.  The  Apostles  Paul  and  Barnabas 
availed  themselves  of  similar  opportunities  to  speak  in  the 
Synagogue  (Acts  xiii.  14).  The  service  was  closed  by 
the  benediction,  generally  pronounced  by  a  priest,  and 
which  the  people  made  their  own  by  responding  Amen. 

Such  services  in  the  Synagogue,  which  afterwards  served 
as  a  model  for  Christian  congregations  (James  ii.  2),  took 
place  now  and  then  on  a  week-day,  especially  on  market 
days ;  but  the  Sabbath  was  pre-eminently  the  day  for 
religious  assemblies  and  worship,  as  it  was  also  the  great 
day  of  the  religious  life.  When  festivals  took  place,  how- 
ever, the  people  observed  them  in  the  Synagogues  as  well 
as  in  the  Temple  and  in  their  houses,  whether  they  medi- 
tated on  the  gracious  leadings  of  God  and  gave  Him 
thanks — as  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  the  Pentecost, 
and  the  Passover — or  recalled  sorrowful  events  ;  or  in  the 
consciousness  of  their  own  guilt  humbled  themselves 
before  God  and  repented  in  sackcloth  and  ashes. 

From  the  Temple  the  light  of  religion  shone  forth,  so 
to  speak,  over  the  whole  people  of  the  Jews,  and  from  the 
Synagogues  over  particular  communities ;  but  the  great 
purpose  which  it  was  sought  to  fulfil  in  both  Temple  and 
Synagogue  was  that  everyone  should  know  and  feel  himself 
one  of  the  people  of  God  ;  that  everyone  should  seek  in 
religion  his  joy  and  comfort  and  hope ;  and  that  everyone 
should  connect  all  the  activities,  circumstances,  and  events 
of  life  with  the  service  of  God.  That  the  religious  life  thus 


124 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


nurtured  did  not  diminish  was  largely  owing  to  another 
influence  which  the  Jews  were  careful  to  maintain :  the 
education  of  the  young  in  the  knowledge  and  practice  of 
the  Law.  Josephus  says  :  "  We  devote  the  greatest  pains 
to  the  education  of  children,  and  make  the  observance  of 
the  Law  and  the  rules  of  piety  which  have  been  given  us 
the  most  important  business  of  our  lives."^"^  Philo  also 
reminds  us  that  the  Jews  were  well  instructed  in  the  Law 
from  their  earliest  youth  upward.'"^  And  Paul  could 
write  to  his  pupil  Timothy,  as  one  who  had  "  known  the 
Holy  Scriptures  from  a  child  "  (11.  Timothy  iii.  15).  By 
what  means  was  this  great  object  of  education  attained  ? 
Temple  and  Synagogue  both  made  their  important  in- 
fluence felt  by  the  young ;  but  the  daily  use  of  verses 
from  the  Sacred  Writings,  the  manifold  symbohcal  actions 
which  were  always  taking  place  in  family  life,  and  the 
whole  atmosphere  in  which  the  peoDle  lived,  educated 
the  child  unconsciously  in  the  religious  views  of  his  race. 
And,  above  all,  every  father  regarded  it  as  his  most  im- 
portant duty  to  make  his  child,  whether  son  or  daughter, 
famihar  from  infancy  with  the  history  of  the  Jewish  people 
and  with  their  Law ;  to  explain  all  existing  customs  and 
usages ;  and  to  awaken  and  nourish  an  interest  and  love 
for  the  religion  of  the  father-land.  As  soon  as  he  was 
twelve  years  old,  the  Jewish  boy  especially  was  held  to  a 
stricter  observance  of  the  Law,  and  participation  in 
worship,  since  he  was  now  a  "  son  of  the  Law ; "  and 
diligent  attendance  at  the  Temple  in  Jerusalem  and  at 
the  Synagogues  was  impressed  upon  him  as  a  duty  and  a 
privilege.  The  history  of  Jesus  shows  that  this  custom 
was  observed  in  his  case  (Luke  ii.  41-43). 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  125 

If,  however,  the  earliest  instruction  was  that  which  was 
thus  given  in  the  family,  there  were  not  wanting  also, 
even  at  the  time  of  Jesus,  pubhc  schools,  whose  object  it 
was  likewise  to  spread  and  increase  religious  knowledge. 
Jerusalem  was,  to  some  extent,  an  academical  city  for  the 
education  of  Scribes  ;  and  Paul,  the  pupil  of  Gamaliel, 
belonged  once  to  a  school  there,  in  which  Jewish  divinity 
was  studied  (Acts  xxii.  3).  Under  Alexandra  (see  page  70) 
it  would  seem  that  schools  for  the  instruction  of  children 
in  the  knowledge  of  the  Law  were  introduced  in  other 
great  cities.    And  as  we  are  told  that  as  early  as  about 
A.D.  6  Jesus  ben  Gamaliel  had  established  schools  for 
boys  in  every  country  and  every  city,^°®  it  may  be  that 
public  schools,  although  not  regularly  organized,  existed 
here  and  there  in  the  days  of  Jesus.   The  Law  was  always 
the  subject  of  the  lessons  given,  and  it  was  a  high  object 
of  ambition  with  any  child  to  be  able  to  read  the  Sacred 
Writings,  and  a  higher  still  to  be  able  to  write  the  lan- 
guage of  the  original.    The  first  school  in  which  Jesus 
was  trained  was  undoubtedly  the  home  of  his  parents 
(Luke  ii.  40).     There  he  may  have  obtained  his  first 
knowledge  of  Jewish  history  and  Biblical  lore,  and  pos- 
sibly acquired  his  facility  in  quoting  from  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures.    And  that  which  was  begun  in  the  home  was 
developed  afterwards  by  the  Synagogue  at  Nazareth,  while 
the  visits  to  the  great  feasts  at  Jerusalem  would  still  fur- 
ther enlarge  his  knowledge.    Above  all,  he  must  have 
taken  good  heed  for  himself  not  merely  to  the  Sacred 
Writings,  but  to  the  books  of  Nature  and  the  world  of 
men  which  lay  open  before  him  ;  so  that  he  made  evident 
intellectual  and  religious  progress,  and  it  could  be  said  of 


126 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


him  :  "  The  child  grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled 
with  wisdom  :  and  the  grace  of  God  was  upon  him " 
{Luke,4i.  40  and  52).  Of  any  regular  attendance  at  a 
school,  on  the  other  hand,  we  have  no  trace  whatever. 
With  reading  he  was  certainly  well  acquainted,  and  more 
than  probably,  also  with  writing  (Lukeiv.  16).  How  often 
he  rebuked  the  Pharisees  with  the  words  :  "  Have  ye  not 
read?"  (Matthew  xii.  3,  5,  xix.  4,  xxii.  31).  How  accu- 
rately he  knew  the  Text !  How  closely  he  describes  the 
letter  down  to  the  minutest  detail !  (Matthew  v.  18 ; 
Luke  xvi.  17)  And  although  we  possess  nothing  written 
by  him,  may  not  John  viii.  6  be  taken  as  a  proof  of  his 
readiness  in  writing  :  "  Jesus  stooped  down,  and  with  his 
finger  wrote  on  the  ground  ?" 

If  we  review  now  all  the  arrangements  and  customs 
which  have  been  cited,  we  must  acknowledge  that  all  the 
influences  to  which  a  Jew  was  subject  from  childhood 
helped  to  awaken  and  sustain  in  him  religious  sensibili- 
ties— that  all  impelled  the  individual  soul  to  place  himself 
and  his  life  at  the  service  of  the  Lord.  His  whole  life 
was  permeated  with  religion  ;  all  his  memories,  his  hopes 
and  wishes,  his  joy  and  trust,  he  was  accustomed  to  refer 
to  God.  The  customs  and  usages  of  religion  accom- 
panied him  everywhere,  day  by  day,  week  in  and  week 
out ;  and  religious  duties  were  never  absent  from  a  single 
hour  of  his  life.  The  daily  prayers,  the  preparations  for 
the  festivals,  the  religious  assemblies  in  the  Synagogue, 
the  going  up  to  the  Temple,  the  paying  of  tithes  and 
dues,  the  sacrifices  and  vows,  the  constant  attention  paid 
to  the  fulfilment  of  all  precepts,  to  purity  and  impurity,  to 
usages  of  a  joyful  or  a  sad  nature — all  this,  the  whole  of 


RELIGIOUS   LIFE  AMONG   THE  JEWS.  127 

which  was  obligatory,  enables  us  to  easily  understand  how 
the  Jew  felt  himself  continually  face  to  face  with  rehgion, 
and  recognized  in  it  his  element  and  his  life. 

But  at  the  same  time  we  must  not  shut  our  eyes  to  the 
fact,  which  has  been  already  pointed  out,  that  the  reli- 
gious life  had  become  with  the  mass  of  the  people  a 
mere  external  matter,  and  that  only  a  few  souls  penetrated 
from  the  shell  to  the  kernel,  from  the  letter  to  the  spirit. 
The  influence  of  the  priesthood,  and  especially  of  the 
Scribes,  like  that  of  the  Pharisees,  was  exaggerated  and 
excessive ;  their  views,  teachings,  and  requirements  per- 
meated every  stratum  of  society.  The  pilgrimages  to  the 
Temple,  the  sacrifices  and  tithes,  were  the  most  available 
merits ;  but  how  seldom  was  the  outward  act  the  expres- 
sion of  an  inward  grateful  disposition  towards  God ! 
Prayers  were  said  diligently  at  the  appointed  times  ;  but 
was  it  not  often  nothing  better  than  a  mere  babble  of  the 
lips  ?  The  law  of  the  Sabbath  and  of  the  feasts,  as  ex- 
pounded by  the  Rabbis,  was  strictly  kept ;  was  it  not  often 
only  a  mechanical  obedience,  without  any  deep  devotion 
of  the  mind  ?  And  with  all  the  observance  of  precepts 
fand  rules  about  fasts  and  purifications,  was  not  the  essence 
of  rehgion,  the  constant  surrender  of  the  heart  to  God, 
with  many  entirely  missing  ?  The  fruits  of  the  labours 
of  the  Rabbis  were  everywhere  seen  among  the  people  in 
superficial  formality,  and  a  slavish  dependence  on  works 
and  the  letter,  without  the  "  Spirit  of  Truth."  The  more 
earnest  and  deeply-interested  among  the  people  were 
forced  to  confess  that  there  was  no  satisfaction  for  the  soul, 
no  blessed  peace  for  the  heart,  to  be  found  in  mere  reli- 
gious performances.  And  thus  it  was  just  among  the  best 


128 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


of  the  people  that  there  was  a  longing  desire  and  expecta- 
tion of  Him  of  whom  their  fathers  had  prophesied  cen- 
turies before  as  the  Prince  of  peace,  and  the  Redeemer 
of  souls,  and  who  was  already  in  the  midst  of  them  (John 
i.  26 ;  Matthew  iii.  11). 


VI. 

The  Religious  Parties  among  the  Jews. 

It  may  be  easily  understood  that  among  a  people  such  as 
the  Jews,  entirely  possessed  by  great  special  ideas,  par- 
ticular forms  of  life  would  everj^where  manifest  them- 
selves ;  and  under  the  influence  of  foreigners,  especially 
that  of  the  Pagan  yoke  of  Rome,  the  inward  opposition, 
more  particularly  among  the  better  sort,  must  have  been 
constantly  renewed,  and  evermore  openly  signified.  Hence 
the  newly-awakened  theocratic  consciousness  among  the 
Jews  in  the  time  of  Jesus ;  hence  the  diligent  heed  which 
was  given  to  the  expositions  of  the  Law  in  the  Temple 
and  in  the  Synagogues ;  and  hence  also  the  painstaking 
observ^ance  of  the  numberless  definitions  and  details  of 
the  Law,  and  the  constant  resort  to  Jerusalem  at  the  great 
feasts  by  people  from  near  and  far.  It  is  estimated,  as  we 
have  said  in  a  former  chapter,  that  at  times  as  many  as 
three  million  guests  were  present,  and  that  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  animals  were  slain  in  sacrifice.  The  trea- 
sury of  the  Temple  possessed  ;£"6oo,ooo,  and  reckoning 
in  addition  the  value  of  the  gold  and  silver  and  the  sacred 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  129 

utensils  which  it  held  besides  money,  its  entire  wealth 
must  have  been  little  short  of  two  and  a  half  miUions. 
But  the  active  specific  life  which  was  stirring  among  the 
Jews  showed  itself  especially  in  the  formation  of  different 
parties.  These  were  not  sects,  as  they  are  sometimes 
erroneously  called,  since  they  all  stood  upon  the  basis  of 
the  Jewish  Law,  and  their  different  opinions  were  only 
with  regard  to  the  proper  position  to  be  taken  in  respect 
of  it,  and  the  true  conception  and  practice  of  it.  In 
considering  this  matter,  we  must  direct  our  attention 
especially  to  the  three  principal  parties,  the  Pharisees, 
Sadducees,  and  Essenes  ;  but  at  the  same  time  not  over- 
looking some  other  schools  of  religious  thought. 

The  two  first-named  parties  were  by  far  the  most  pro- 
minent in  the  days  of  Jesus,  and  hence  it  is  that  they  are 
so  frequently  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament.  The 
Pharisees  were  much  the  most  numerous  and  the  more 
powerful  in  their  influence  over  the  people.  Their  name 
signifies  "  the  separated,"  that  is,  the  people  who  by  their 
superior  holiness  distinguished  themselves  from  the  sinful 
multitude,  and  especially  from  the  Gentiles  (Luke  xviii. 
ii).  The  tendency  of  thought  to  which  they  probably 
owed  their  origin  manifested  itself  after  the  restoration  of 
the  Jewish  commonwealth,  perhaps  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Ezra.  In  the  time  of  the  Maccabees  we  meet  with  the 
Chasidwi  (II.  Maccabees  xiv.  6),  or  the  Assideans  as  they 
are  called  in  our  version,  meaning  '  the  religious,'  '  the 
patriots.'  The  Chasidim  were  probably  the  progenitors 
of  the  Pharisees,  since  the  mission  of  the  latter,  like  that 
of  the  former,  was  on  its  negative  side  a  struggle  against 
heathenism,  and  in  its  positive  aspect,  the  strictest  possi- 


130 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


ble  conformity  with  the  Jewish  Law.  In  the  days  of  the 
High  Priest  Jonathan,  the  party  was  specified  under  the 
name  of  Pharisees,  as  were  also  the  Sadducees  under 
their  name ;  and  it  may  be  that  then  they  first  attained 
special  political  and  religious  importance. At  the  time 
of  Jesus  the  party,  which  included  many  Scribes  and 
members  of  the  Sanhedrin,  numbered  more  than  six 
thousand  members,  and  formed  a  fellowship  without  any 
rigid  outward  organization.^"^  Their  great  distinction 
was  that  they  zealously  sought  to  bring  the  people  back 
to  the  strictest  observance  of  the  Law  of  Moses  and  the 
rules  of  their  fathers.  Pharisaism  was  an  energetic 
reaction  against  the  apostasy  from  the  native  laws  and 
customs  :  its  constant  endeavour  was  to  determine  exactly 
what  was  forbidden  and  what  was  permitted  by  the  Law, 
and  to  scrupulously  fulfil  whatever  was  commanded. 
Hence  they  were  held  by  the  people  to  be  the  most 
careful  expositors  and  doers  of  the  Law;  and  prided 
themselves  on  being  its  champions,  and  on  belonging  to 
a  party  whose  ideal  object  was  that  every  Israelite  should 
know  the  Law  and  take  its  yoke  upon  him ;  and,  indeed, 
that  the  whole  people  should  attain  to  "the  heritage, 
the  kingdom,  the  priesthood,  and  the  sanctuary" 
(II.  Maccabees  ii.  17).  But  their  exposition  and  practice 
of  the  Law  was  certainly  punctihous  and,  in  some 
respects,  petty  and  paltry.  The  essential  thought  and 
spiritual  meaning  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets  :  "  Love 
God  and  thy  neighbour  !  "  they  do  not  seem  to  have 
apprehended  (Deuteronomy  vi.  5,  Leviticus  xix.  18, 
Mark  xii.  30).  They  attributed  the  greatest  importance 
not  to  the  moral  sentiment  and  disposition,  but  to  the 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  131 

outward  act.  The  weightier  matters  of  the  Law,  the 
inward  spiritual  hfe — righteousness,  charity,  and  faithful- 
ness— were  neglected,  and  in  their  place  were  substituted 
such  comparative  trivialities  as  the  tithing  of  mint,  anise, 
and  other  herbs  (Matthew  xxiii.  23).  Not  to  purity  of 
heart,  but  to  the  washing  of  hands  and  the  cleansing  of 
pots  and  cups,  was  the  chief  attention  given  (Matthew 
XV.  14-20,  Mark  vii.  8).  Their  great  delight  was  to  give 
themselves  airs  of  sanctity  and  reverence  by  much 
almsgiving,  the  exhibition  of  devotion  in  the  Synagogues 
or  on  the  streets,  and  by  frequent  fasts  (Luke  xviii.). 
No  doubt  at  the  beginning  of  their  history  they  cherished 
a  genuine  religiousness  and  a  deep  inward  and  outward 
morality,  but  in  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  all 
this  was  wanting  with  most  of  them  (Matthew  v.  20, 
xxiii.  3) ;  and  in  place  of  it  was  a  lax  morality,  under  a 
fine  disguise  of  piety,  and  even  the  worst  wickedness 
(Matthew  xxiii.  27,  John  viii.  7);  indeed,  hypocrisy  and 
mock  sanctity  were  their  special  characteristics.  Of 
course  there  were  still  amongst  them  many  honest, 
high-minded,  and  upright  men,  who  united  inward  piety 
with  external  religiousness,  such  as  a  Nicodemus,  a 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  or  a  Gamaliel  (John  iii..  Acts  v.  34). 
But  the  principles  of  the  Pharisees,  the  literal  appre- 
hension and  fulfilment  of  the  Law,  even  to  the  pettiest 
crotchet,  led  all  too  easily  to  superficial  formality.  If 
literal  fulfilment  was  to  be  carried  out,  however,  every 
particular  precept  must  be  defined  as  closely  as  possible  ; 
and  it  was  the  boast  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  that 
they  had  erected  a  '  fence '  round  the  Law  by  a  multitude 
of  traditions,  and  that  they  scrupulously  obeyed  a  vast 


132 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


number  of  precepts  which  formed  the  Oral  Law.  They 
not  only  ascribed  to  these  "traditions  of  the  elders" 
legal  authority,  but  even  exalted  them  above  the 
commands  of  Moses  (Matthew  xxiii.  2,  Mark  vii.  3, 
Matthew  xv.  2) ;  and  thus  the  Mishna  says  :  "  It  is  more 
culpable  to  teach  anything  against  the  regulations  of  the 
Scribes  than  against  the  Scripture  itself." 

It  was  just  at  this  point,  that  is  as  respects  the  authority 
of  tradition  or  the  Oral  Law,  that  the  Pharisees  were 
most  opposed  to  the  Sadducees,  who  rejected  it  and  also 
the  Pharisaic  doctrines  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
and  the  resurrection  of  the  body  (Matthew  xxii.  23, 
Mark  xii.  18,  Luke  xx.  27,  Acts  xxiii.  8).^^^  The 
Pharisees  also  believed  in  the  existence  of  angels  and 
higher  spirits,  while  the  Sadducees  denied  it.  And, 
finally,  the  former  affirmed  the  definite  influence  of  fate, 
of  heaven-appointed  destiny,  upon  the  freedom  of  man. 
"Everything,"  says  Rabbi  Akiba,  "is  foreseen  by  God, 
but  freedom  is  given"  (to  man).  The  destiny  of 
everyone  is  determined  by  God,  but  within  the  limits  of  it 
man  is  a  free  agent,  and  his  virtue  is  his  merit.  In  his 
works,  whether  they  are  good  or  evil,  man  does  not  act 
alone,  the  Pharisees  say,  but  that  the  fore-ordination  and 
concurrence  of  God  must  be  granted  while,  according 
to  the  doctrine  of  the  Sadducees,  the  good  and  evil 
actions  of  men  are  the  result  of  their  own  free  choice, 
independently  of  the  will  and  co-operation  of  God."^ 

The  Pharisees,  as  we  have  seen,  had  the  greatest 
influence  over  the  people ;  indeed,  they  were  in  alliance 
with  them,^^^  and  the  women  especially  were  on  their 
side."'   Their  teaching  of  the  Law  and  their  formalism 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  133 

fell  in  with  the  opinions  of  the  crowd.  Their  agreement 
among  themselves,  and  their  existence  everywhere  in  the 
country  (Luke  v-  17);  their  knowledge  of  the  Law 
(Acts  xxii.  3),  and  the  glory  of  their  seeming  holy  hfe ; 
their  endeavour,  based  on  principle,  to  act  upon  the 
nation,  to  renew  the  life  of  the  people,  and  to  bring  on 
the  longed-for  day  of  deliverance ;  their  predominant 
influence  in  the  Sanhedrin,  where  they  often  determined 
the  issue  (Acts  v.  34,  xxiii.  6)  -^^^  their  preaching  in  the 
forecourt  of  the  Temple  and  in  the  Synagogues  at 
Jerusalem,  and  elsewhere  in  the  country — all  this  made 
them  the  masters  of  the  people,  who  regarded  them  as  the 
guardians  of  the  spiritual  riches  of  Judaism,  of  the  pure 
doctrine,  the  life  of  conformity  to  the  Law,  the  national 
dignity  and  freedom.  But,  notwithstanding,  their  weak- 
ness and  their  blame  lay  just  in  this  :  that  they  appre- 
hended everything  in  a  small,  sensuous,  and  external  sense; 
and  that,  at  last,  their  object  became  not  the  renewal  of 
mind  and  heart,  but  the  self-righteousness  of  works  and 
obedience  to  the  letter  of  the  Law. 

Their  especial  and  infamous  distinction  is  that  they 
conspired  to  bring  Our  Lord  to  the  cross  (Matthew 
xxiii.  29-33).  They  wished  for  a  religious  Messiah,  but 
one  with  their  own  slavish  adherence  to  the  letter ;  they 
would  have  him  be  political,  but  only  with  their  par- 
ticular views.  To  him  whose  whole  nature  and  life  were 
in  direct  antagonism  to  them,  they  were  bound  to  be 
deadly  foes,  and  they  did  not  rest  till  they  had,  as  they 
thought,  swept  him  out  of  their  path. 

As  a  ramification  of  the  Pharisees  undoubtedly  must  a 
party  be  regarded  who,  as  genuine  followers  of  the 


134 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


Assideans,  sought  to  prove  their  patriotism  by  their 
energy  and  zeal,  and  even  by  taking  up  arms.  When 
Cyrenius,  the  governor  of  Syria,  in  the  year  6  or  7  of  the 
account  called  the  Christian  era,  undertook  the  well-known 
general  'taxing,'  Judas  the  Galilean,  or  Gaulonite,  in 
association  with  a  Pharisee  named  Sadduk,  endeavoured 
to  arouse  the  people  not  only  to  resistance  against  this 
measure,  but  to  open  rebelhon  against  Rome  (Acts  v.  37). 
He  himself  perished  in  the  insurrection,  but  from  that 
time  forth  a  fanatical  party  was  formed,  principally  from 
the  ranks  of  the  Pharisees,  who  inscribed  upon  their 
banner  war  against  Rome,  and  at  last  brought  on  the 
great  struggle  of  the  years  between  a.d.  66  and  70,  with 
its  terrible  ending.  This  was  the  party  of  Zealots  as  they 
were  called.  Its  adherents  of  course  understood  by  the 
expected  Messiah  a  deliverer  who  should  be  above  all  a 
political  personage,  a  Jewish  king.  Hence  Our  Lord 
had  to  face  the  question  whether  he  should  fall  in  with 
their  views  and  aims  ;  but  before  his  entrance  upon  his 
public  work  he  in  principle  separated  himself  from  all 
political  strifes  (Matthew  iv.  8-10).  This  is  the  explana- 
tion of  his  unwilhngness  to  be  proclaimed  as  the  Messiah 
in  Judaea  and  Galilee  (Matthew  xvi.  20) ;  while  in  Samaria, 
where  the  feeling  of  the  people  was  much  more 
favourable  to  Rome,  such  precautions  were  not  necessary 
(John  iv.  26).  For  the  same  evident  reason  he  retreated 
to  some  mountain  solitude  when  the  people,  probably 
some  of  the  party  of  Zealots,  wished  to  take  him  by  force 
and  make  him  a  king  (John  vi.  15).  It  is  thought  that 
they  who  raised  the  cry  of  "  Hosanna  "  may  have  been 
adherents   of  the   same   party   (Matthew   xxi.  i-ii). 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  135 

Moreover,  that  Jesus  was  falsely  accused  before  Pilate  as 
belonging  to  the  anti-Roman  party  (Luke  xxiii.  14, 
compare  John  xviii.  28  et  seq.)  is  evident  from  the 
record  of  his  trial  and  the  inscription  on  the  cross  t 
"This  is  Jesus  the  King  of  the  Jews."  Even  some  of 
his  disciples  at  first  shared  the  political  views  of  the  party. 
Simon  of  Cana,  for  example,  bore  the  surname  of 
"Zelotes"  (Mark  iii.  18,  Luke  vi.  15),  that  is,  Simon 
the  Zealot ;  and  we  remember  the  petition  of  the  mother 
of  Zebedee's  children,  that  her  two  sons  might  sit  one  on 
the  right  hand  and  one  on  the  left  in  the  coming  kingdom 
of  Jesus,  which  she  evidently  regarded  as  a  political  one 
(Matthew  xx.  20) ;  and  also  the  saying  of  the  two 
disciples,  on  their  way  to  Emmaus  :  "  We  trusted  that  it 
had  been  he  which  should  have  redeemed  Israel ! " — that 
is  from  the  hated  dominion  of  Rome,  and  by  making 
himself  king. 

If  the  Zealots,  however,  were  the  enemies  of  the 
Romans  it  is  certain  that  Rome  had  her  friends  and 
adherents,  and  that  amongst  those  who  were  considered 
the  '  well-disposed '  of  the  land.  To  this  class  belonged 
many  persons  of  high  rank  among  the  priestly  aristocracy, 
many  of  the  rich  laity,  and  especially  many  of  the 
influential  men  of  business.  These  were  in  sympathy 
with  the  Roman  rule  for  the  sake  of  the  personal 
advantage  which  they  found  in  pliable  yielding  to  the 
established  order  of  things.  Many  of  them  had  been  in 
Rome  and  had  travelled  about  the  world,  and  since  they 
had  everywhere  met  with  the  power  of  the  Empire  they 
had  become  its  friends. 

That  the  house  of  the  Herods  had  also  a  certain 


136 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS, 


number  of  adherents  on  their  side  has  been  already 
noticed."^ 

But  in  comparison  with  the  Pharisees,  the  party  who 
were  loyal  to  the  Roman  Government,  and  that  of  the 
Herodians  did  not  prosper.  Even  the  Sadducees,  who 
formed  the  other  great  party,  were  far  below  the 
Pharisees  in  numbers  and  influence.  Whence  the  Sad- 
ducees derived  their  name,  how  long  they  had  been  in 
existence,  and  who  had  been  their  founder,  is  involved 
in  some  uncertainty.  Some  think  that,  like  the  Pharisees, 
they  claimed  for  themselves  a  title  of  honour  in  their 
designation,  and  that  the  Hebrew  name,  Sadduktm,  is 
derived  from  tsedakah^  *  righteousness,'  and  meant  that 
they  were  the  righteous,  but  the  derivation  is  grammatically 
hardly  possible.  A  Jewish  tradition,  unfortunately 
rather  a  late  one,  assumes  that  a  certain  Zadok,  the  pupil 
of  Antigonus  of  Socho,  was  their  founder.  The  most 
probable  theory,  however,  is  that  which  supposes  their 
name  to  be  derived  from  Zadok  who  was  High  Priest  in 
David's  time  (II.  Samuel  viii.  17);  and  that  thus  the 
Sadducees  were  the  Zadokites,  the  descendants  and 
adherents  of  the  ancient  priestly-aristocratic  house  of 
Zadok  which  from  the  time  of  David  and  Solomon 
down  to  the  exile,  and  again,  after  the  restoration,  from 
the  days  of  Ezra  to  the  time  of  the  Syrian  dominion, 
inherited  the  office  of  High  Priest."^  They  lost  the 
position  in  the  disturbed  times  of  the  second  century 
before  Christ,  when  it  was  taken  by  the  Maccabean 
heroes,  who  richly  deserved  it.  The  efforts  of  the 
Zadokites,  however,  to  regain  their  lost  dignity  were  not 
fruitless,  and  in  the  time  of  Jesus  we  again  find  men  of 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  137 

their  kindred  and  school  occupying  the  office  of  High 
Priest,  such  as  an  Annas  and  a  Caiaphas  (Acts  v.  17). 
In  contrast  with  the  Pharisees,  who  found  their  adherents 
chiefly  among  the  people,  the  Sadducees  were  especially 
the  priestly-aristocratic  party,  and   numbered  amongst 
them,  beside  the  High  Priest,  the  majority  of  the  priest- 
hood and  of  the  higher  classes  among  the  Jewish 
people.^^^    Josephus  says  :  "  The  Sadducees  have  not  the 
people  on  their  side,  but  win  over  the  w^ell-to-do  and 
highest  in  rank.""®    They  cannot,  however,  as  some  have 
thought,  be  regarded  as  latitudinarians  or  freethinkers,"^ 
in  distinction  from  the  Pharisees,  since  their  attitude  was 
much  more  that  of  Conservatives  in  relation  to  the 
Mosaic  ordinances.    They  took  part,  in  virtue  of  their 
official  standing,  in  the  services  at  the  Temple  and  at  the 
altar,  observed  the  stated  rules  respecting  circumcision 
and  the  Sabbath,  and  adhered  firmly  to  the  Scripture, 
not  only  to  the  Pentateuch,  which  they  preferred  above 
all  the  rest,  but  also  to  the  other  Sacred  Books.^-°  They 
were  distinguished  from  the  Pharisees  by  this,  that  they 
rejected  the  Oral  Law,  which  consisted  of  the  "  traditions 
of  the  elders,"  and  would  only  receive  the  Sacred  Books 
as  of  Divine  authority ;  or,  as  Josephus  characterizes  their 
party :  "  The  Sadducees  say  that  we  ought  to  hold  only 
that  which  is  written  to  be  the  Law,  and  give  no  heed  to 
the  new  rules  or  traditions  of  the  fathers."^^-^    Thus  they 
rejected  the  Pharisaic  interpretations  of  the  Scripture,  and 
all  augmentations  of  it  founded  on  tradition ;  and,  on  the 
contrary,  continued  to  hold  by  the  simple  letter  of  the 
Law.    Where  the  Pharisees,  by  their  exposition  of  the 
Law,  sometimes  lightened  for  the  people  the  burden  of  its 


138 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


obligations,  the  Sadducees  insisted  with  emphasis  on  the 
strictest  observance  of  it  by  the  multitude,  whilst  they 
allowed  to  the  priesthood  liberty  from  many  of  its 
restrictions.  Besides  the  traditions  of  the  fathers,  they 
rejected  decidedly  the  new  specific  rules  of  faith  and 
morality  which  were  held  by  the  Pharisees.  They  denied, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  influence  of  destiny,  and  affirmed 
that  good  and  evil,  with  the  power  to  do  the  one  or  the 
other,  depend  upon  our  will/-^  They  rejected  also  the 
doctrine  of  the  resurrection  and  eternal  life,  as  well  as 
the  existence  of  angels  and  spirits  (see  page  132);  instead 
of  which  they  held  the  old  Mosaic  view,  of  earthly 
recompense  and  happiness,  of  immortality  through  long 
life,  numerous  descendants,  and  unceasing  earthly  public 
welfare.  Satisfied  themselves  with  the  precepts  of  the 
Law,  they  scorned  the  new  means  and  expedients  of  piety 
adopted  by  the  Pharisees — the  troublesome  fastings,  the 
numberless  purifications,  and  the  absorption  in  merely 
external  acts.  Once,  when  the  Pharisees  immersed  in 
water  the  golden  chandeliers  of  the  Temple,  the 
Sadducees  cried  out  :  "  See,  the  Pharisees  will  purify  the 
sun  at  last !  "  In  relation  to  the  various  religious  usages, 
to  the  manner  in  which  incense  should  be  used  and  the 
water  of  purification  sprinkled,  and  the  daily  morning 
and  evening  sacrifice  managed,  &c.,  they  were  not  so 
rigid  as  the  Pharisees,  but  kept  to  the  precepts  of  the 
Law,  and  not  to  the  special  rules  of  tradition.  Although 
many  a  zealous  Pharisee  held  them  to  be  unclean  because 
of  this  neglect,  they  were  not  in  the  least  regarded  by 
the  people  as  on  that  account  unfit  for  their  offices  as 
High  Priests,  priests,  and  judges. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  13^ 

In  their  public  character  the  Pharisees  appeared  con- 
descending, national,  and  liberal ;  the  Sadducees,  on  the 
contrary,  were  haughty,  brusque  with  one  another,  more 
attached  to  the  world  and  rigorous  in  judgment.  The 
former  wished,  by  active  piety,  to  prepare  for  eternal  life ; 
the  latter  recognized  only  the  present,  and  demanded 
integrity  and  ability  of  mind.  Apart  from  their  official 
life,  the  Sadducees  allowed  themselves  a  good  deal  of 
liberty,  had  no  objection  to  the  pleasures  of  a  well-fur- 
nished table,  took  part  in  life  at  the  court  of  the  Herods, 
and  did  not  make  too  great  a  hardship  of  any  contact 
with  heathenism.  Among  the  people,  this  party  was  only 
looked  up  to  in  so  far  as  it  could  boast  of  hereditary 
nobility  and  class  privileges.  Otherwise  their  aristocratic 
school  was  but  little  liked,  on  account  of  their  suspicious 
and  scanty  creed,  their  arrogance,  and  their  severity, 
especially  as  judges. 

With  their  aversion  to  every  form  of  enthusiasm,  the 
Sadducees  must  have  hated  Jesus  as  a  fanatic ;  and  with 
their  denial  of  immortality,  of  resurrection,  and  the  exist- 
ence of  angels,  they  were  dogmatically  opposite  to  him. 
Their  antagonism  to  him  and  John  the  Baptist,  from  both 
causes,  is  evident.  The  latter  calls  them,  as  well  as  the 
Pharisees,  a  "generation  of  vipers"  (Matthew  iii.  7); 
and  Jesus  describes  them  as  hypocrites,  a  "  wicked  and 
adulterous  generation and  their  doctrines  as  a  leaven 
which  corrupted  the  people  (Matthew  xvi.  6).  In  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  also  they  appear  as  the  consistent 
enemies  of  the  Christian  rehgion.  While  many  Pharisees, 
like  Nicodemus,  sought  and  found  the  Lord  (John  iii.  2, 
xix.  39  ;  Luke  xxiii.  50),  and  Paul,  who  had  been  one  of 


uo 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


them,  became  his  Apostle — none  of  the  Sadducees,  so 
far  as  we  know,  ever  made  the  great  change  (compare 
Acts  iv.  I,  V.  17,  xxiii,  6-9). 

Besides  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  there  was  another 
party  who  are  referred  to  by  Josephus  and  others,  the 
Essenes  (Essenoi,^-^  Essaioi^-^)  as  they  are  called,  a  name 
which  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures.  Their  origin  is 
lost  in  the  obscurity  of  the  pre-Christian  period,  like  that 
of  the  other  parties.  It  is  possible  that  Essenism 
developed  itself  first  in  the  time  of  the  ^laccabees, 
especially  under  Jonathan  (b.c.  162-143),  a  supposition 
which  Josephus  seems  to  point  to.^"  The  first 
Essenian  called  by  that  name  is  a  certain  Judas  of  the 
time  of  Antigonus,  about  B.C.  iio.^-^  The  signification 
of  the  party  name  is  uncertain  ;  some  derive  it  from  the 
Hebrew  that   is,    "physician,"  because  they 

practised  medicine,  but  this  explanation  only  fits  one  of 
their  minor  peculiarities.  Others  connect  the  name  with 
"  chasa"  that  is,  'silence,'  because  their  piety  was  of  a 
taciturn  character.  The  most  probable  explanation  is 
that  the  Essenes  designated  themselves  from  the  Syriac 
as  "  chasen^''  that  is  the  religious. 

They  formed  a  separate  and  secluded  society,  whose 
great  object  was  the  cultivation  of  the  religious  life,  an 
association  of  ascetics,  who  remind  us  of  the  monastic 
orders  which  afterwards  arose  in  Christendom.  Various 
causes  doubtless  contributed  to  that  result.  For  one 
thing  the  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  with  Pharisaism,  the 
special  type  of  Jewish  piety ;  then  their  displeasure  at  the 
wopldly  and  faithless  policy  of  Jonathan,  which  showed 
such  a  deep  falling  oflf  from  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  141 

first  Maccabees ;  and  lastly  their  acquaintance  with  the 
principles  and  views  of  the  Pythagorean  sect  of  moralists, 
with  which  Essenism  manifested  a  certain  affinity.  For 
although  they  had,  as  we  shall  see  more  fully  a  little 
further  on,  much  in  common  with  Judaism,  and  shared 
especially  the  principles  of  the  Pharisees  with  regard  to 
the  supreme  importance  of  the  Law,  the  strict  observance 
of  the  Sabbath  and  ceremonial  purifications,  it  is  still 
true  that  any  explanation  of  Essenism  which  does  not 
take  in  more  than  its  Jewish  elements,  is  by  no  means 
suffxient.    Their  fundamental  conception  of  Nature  and 
the  human  life  was  a  kind  of  dualism,  and  their  ascetic 
practices    aimed  at  the  utmost  possible  avoidance  of 
contact  with  matter,  and  the  prevention  of  ceremonial 
defilement  by  it.     The  body  to  them  was  earthly  and 
perishable  ;  the  soul,  which  they  thought  of  as  proceed- 
ing from  the  most  subtle  ether,  was  immortal  and  eternal, 
but  shut  up  in  the  body  as  in  a  prison.    This  view  was 
also  held  by  the  Pythagoreans,  and  there  was  still  more  in 
Essenism  which  was  closely  related  with  the  principles  of 
that  school  of  moral  philosophy,  such  as  the  rejection  of 
bloody  sacrifices,  the  abstinence  from  flesh  and  wine, 
their  views  of  celibacy,  their  refusal  to  take  an  oath,  their 
prayers  to  the  sun,  the  wearing  of  white  garments  and 
other  peculiarities.     How  the  Pythagorean  principles 
found  their  way  into  Palestine,  whether  by  way  of  Syria, 
or  Alexandria  in  Egypt,  is  not  known.    If  the  latter  was 
the  true  direction,  then  the  Jewish  sect  of  Therapeutae^^' 
in    Ej;7pt    may   have   been   the   forerunner    of  the 
Essenes,  who  were  in  harmony  with  them  on  many 
points ;  but  there  was  this  great  difference  between  them, 


142 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS, 


that  the  former  led  an  entirely  meditative  life,  while 
the  latter  (the  Essenes)  devoted  themselves  to  industrial 
activity.'-®  The  latest  researches,  however,  would 
almost  seem  to  show  that  the  book  attributed  to  Philo, 
De  vita  contejjiplafiva,  the  only  source  of  information 
respecting  the  Therapeutce,  was  not  written  by  him,  but 
by  some  Christian,  who  was  strongly  in  favour  of  ascetic- 
ism, at  the  end  of  the  third  or  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century ;  and  that  the  author  is  seeking  to  glorify  not  a 
Jewish  sect,  but  the  Christian  ascetics  and  anchorites ;  so 
that  the  supposition  of  a  connection  between  the 
Therapeutse  and  the  Essenes  has  not  much  foundation.^^ 

There  were  in  the  Holy  land,  in  the  days  of  Josephus, 
about  four  thousand  Essenes  they  had  their  com- 
munities in  the  cities,  but  especially  in  the  villages,  of 
Palestine,  and,  as  Philo  mentions,  even  in  Syria  also. 
They  preferred,  however,  above  all  the  retired  and 
solitary  districts,  and  hence  the  wilderness  of  Engedi,  to 
the  west  of  the  Dead  Sea,  became  one  of  their  chief 
settlements,  to  which  at  a  later  time  they  migrated  in 
large  numbers. 

In  the  earlier  days  of  their  history  they  seem  to  have 
taken  some  part  in  public  life,  but  as  time  went  on  they 
became  more  and  more  estranged  from  it,  and  grew  into 
a  narrow  and  exclusive  monastic  society,  with  a  severe 
discipline  and  a  rigid  organization.  They  emulated  the 
Pharisees  in  their  zeal  for  the  restoration  of  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  Law  and  of  ceremonial  purity,  but  were  at  the 
same  time  sincere  and  earnest  in  cultivating  the  religious 
life. 

Turning  our  attention  now  to  their  more  peculiar  views 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  143 

and  practices,  it  is  right  to  say  that  they  cherished  the 
greatest  reverence  for  Jehovah,  and  held  faithfully  by 
Moses  and  his  laws.  They  kept  aloof  from  the  Temple, 
but  all  the  same  presented  their  gifts  and  votive  offerings 
for  it,  with  the  exception  of  animals  for  sacrifice.  They 
strictly  observed  the  laws  of  the  Sabbath,  and  those 
concerning  drinks  and  meats,  and  rejected  with  horror  all 
images,  even  those  stamped  on  coins.  They  made  abuse 
or  reviling  of  the  Law  of  Moses  an  offence  punishable 
by  death,  and  in  their  ceremonial  purifications  they  went 
even  beyond  the  requirements  of  the  Law.  For  them, 
life's  greatest  task  was  to  emancipate  themselves  from  the 
earthly,  which  they  regarded  as  anti-godly  j  their  gaze  and 
their  prayers  were  often  turned  to  heaven  and  to  the  sun ; 
their  aim  was  to  become  like  God  and  the  angels.  The 
body  was  for  them  only  matter  doomed  to  destruction, 
while  the  soul,  destined  to  live  on  for  ever,  looked  forward 
to  a  '  recompense  of  reward '  beyond  death. 

In  their  life  and  practice  the  Essenes  showed  themselves 
moderate,  simple  in  their  habits,  having  but  few  wants 
and  diligent  in  industry.  Their  diet  was  limited  to 
bread,  fruit,  and  vegetables,  with  perhaps  a  little  salt  and 
hyssop ;  they  refused  to  drink  wine  or  eat  flesh.  Their 
clothing  consisted  of  a  white  linen  garment.  They 
mostly  abstained  from  marriage;  or,  at  the  best,  a  small 
branch  of  them  allowed  themselves  to  enter  upon  it  under 
certain  conditions.  The  decease  of  members  was  as  a 
rule  made  good  by  the  adoption  of  children,  and  by  the 
voluntary  entrance  of  new  adherents.  They  were  zealous 
for  moral  purity,  chastity,  and  truthfulness,  for  which 
reason  they  rejected  the  custom  of  taking  oaths.  In 


144 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS, 


their  communities  all  property  was  held  for  the  common 
good,  so  that  for  all  there  was  only  one  fund  and  one 
;  store,  which  was  managed  by  a  steward,  and  from  which 
all  could  draw  under  certain  regulations ;  and  thus 
neither  poverty  nor  riches  were  to  be  seen  among  them. 
All  forms  of  slavery  were  to  them  an  abomination  of 
unrighteousness.  The  aged,  the  sick,  and  those  in  need 
of  help  they  waited  upon  like  sons  and  daughters ; 
charity  was  a  sacred  duty  which  they  felt  bound  to  fulfil, 
and,  whilst  in  all  else  every  step  that  they  must  take  was 
regulated  by  the  laws  of  their  society,  two  things  were 
fully  in  the  power  of  every  member  :  to  be  charitable 
and  helpful.  Their  energetic  and  healthful  labour 
protected  them  from  lust  and  indolence.  By  occupation 
they  were  principally  agriculturists,  shepherds,  bee-keepers, 
and  handicraftsmen;  they  had  a  contempt  for  trade 
which  they  considered  conducive  to  avarice,  and  for 
smiths'  work  in  armoury,  by  which  men  are  injured. 

In  their  associations  they  had  superintendents,  priests, 
and  other  officials,  and  the  whole  society  was  divided 
into  separate  classes,  those  below  consisting  of  novices, 
and  those  above  of  brethren  who  were  fully  members  of 
the  order.  When  anyone  wished  to  be  taken  into  the 
society,  he  had  first  of  all  to  undergo  a  probation  of  one 
year,  upon  which  he  was  admitted  to  the  ceremonial 
purifications.  Then  followed  a  further  probation  of  two 
years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  he  could  take  his  place 
at  the  common  table  and  was  admitted  to  all  the 
privileges  and  rites  of  the  order. 

Very  simple,  but  at  the  same  time  full  of  vitality,  was 
the  daily  life  of  the  members  of  this  society.  Before 


THE  RELIGIOUS  PARTIES  AMONG  THE  JEWS.  145 

sunrise  they  spoke  of  nothing  secular,  but  first  of  all 
prayed  together,  and  looked  up  to  the  heavens  towards 
the  physical  and  the  spiritual  sun ;  then  everyone 
proceeded  to  his  labour.  Towards  mid-day  the  cere- 
monial washings  took  place,  and  thereupon  all  sat  down 
to  the  common  meals  in  the  houses  of  the  order,  all  ahke 
wearing  white  robes.  The  afternoon  was  again  devoted 
to  diligent  labour,  and  not  till  the  twilight  did  they  leave 
it  off  and  assemble  again  for  the  evening  meal.  On  the 
Sabbaths  they  rested  entirely  from  all  work,  and  spent 
the  time  in  common  prayer  and  the  reading  and 
interpretation  of  the  Law. 

In  the  life  and  religion  of  the  Essenes  there  was 
much  that  is  worthy  of  honourable  recognition ;  but 
it  is  nevertheless  true  that  Essenism  was  a  morbid  enthu- 
siasm for  technical  purity  and  a  morose  retreat  from  the 
world.  The  abhorrence  of  what  they  deemed  unclean- 
ness  erected  an  insurmountable  wall  of  separation  between 
the  Essenes  and  the  rest  of  the  people.  They  hved  and 
died  for  themselves  alone ;  they  sought  their  own  calm 
and  repose  in  this  world,  and  the  salvation  of  their  souls 
in  the  other ;  while  they  condemned  the  morals  and  cus- 
toms of  the  country.  And  thus  it  was  that  in  numbers 
they  never  approached  the  Pharisees,  that  they  took  no 
part  in  caring  for  the  welfare  of  their  native  land,  and 
held  aloof  from  the  great  struggle  which  involved  the  very 
existence  of  their  own  people.  Even  after  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  this  party  continued  to  exist  in  peace  and 
obscurity,  and  only  came  to  an  end  in  the  fifth  century. 

The  supposition  which  some  have  indulged  that  Our 
Lord  himself  had  lent  an  ear  to  the  teachings  of  the 


146 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


Essenes  is  entirely  unfounded  :  to  this  hour  no  vahd 
reason  has  been  adduced  in  support  of  it.  The  Christian 
rehgion  is  absolutely  different  from  Essenism  ;  it  does  not 
forbid  our  being  in  the  world,  but  our  being  of  the  world ; 
and  the  particulars  we  have  given  will  clearly  show  the 
distinction  between  the  teachings  of  Jesus  and  those  of 
the  Essenes.  On  the  other  hand  it  is  credible  that  the 
ancient  heretical  Christian  sect  of  the  Sampsaeans,  or 
Elcesaites,  who  were  sun-worshippers,  living  near  the 
Dead  Sea,  may  have  been  formed  by  a  blending  together 
of  Essenian  and  Ebionite  elements. 

If  now  we  take  a  review  of  the  stirring  activities  of 
the  period  among  the  children  of  Israel,  we  may  say  with 
Keim :  "  They  are  at  once  an  evidence  of  decline  and 
decay,  and  of  internal  preparedness  for  rebuilding." 
The  decay  is  seen  in  the  motley  diversity  of  views, 
in  the  despairing  struggle  for  a  deliverance,  which  was 
sought  chiefly  in  external  prosperity,  and  also  in  the 
devotion  to  the  bare  letter  of  the  Law  and  superficial 
formalities.  There  was  undoubtedly  much  fidehty  and 
exactness  in  the  works  of  the  Law,  much  of  the  sacri- 
ficing spirit,  but  also  still  more  of  vanity  and  conceit, 
hypocrisy  and  sanctimoniousness.  We  know  that  Jesus 
strongly  condemned  the  people  of  his  time,  and  St.  Paul 
after  him  did  the  same  (Matthew  xii.  39,  Romans  ii.  23-24). 
Roman  writers,  such  as  Cicero,  Suetonius,  and  Tacitus 
speak  often  of  the  decaying  Jewish  people.  And  even 
Josephus  confesses  the  decline  of  his  nation  since  the 
time  of  the  Maccabees.  The  external  misery  in  the 
country,  and  the  inward  distress  in  men's  hearts,  awakened 
in  most  of  them  a  feeling  of  their  utter  inabihty  to  help 


THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 


147 


themselves,  and  at  the  same  time  an  ardent  desire  for 
Him  whose  coming  had  been  predicted  for  centuries — 
the  Messiah.  And  thus,  underneath  all  the  external 
formalism,  and  especially  among  the  better  sort,  there  was 
an  increasing  movement  of  men's  souls  awakened  and 
nourished  by  the  confident  hope  of  the  coming  Saviour. 
The  Messianic  hope  is  therefore  the  subject  to  which  we 
must  next  give  our  attention. 


VII. 

The  Messianic  Hope. 

When  we  are  oppressed  by  anxiety,  fear,  or  distress,  we 
naturally  lift  up  our  eyes  to  heaven,  supplicating  and 
hoping  that  the  future  may  be  brighter,  and  may  com- 
pensate us  for  the  sorrowful  character  of  the  present.  But 
above  all  do  we  chng  to  the  hope  of  a  kinder  future  when 
we  think  we  have  definite  grounds  for  belief  in  the  more 
favourable  conditions  of  the  coming  time. 

And  certainly  the  "  chosen  people  "  experienced  trouble 
enough  in  the  last  centuries  of  their  history.  If  we  could 
imagine  and  realize  to  ourselves  their  great  trials,  the 
struggles  of  the  Maccabean  times,  the  internal  dissensions 
among  the  people  themselves,  their  sufferings  under  the 
Roman  rule  from  Pompey  to  Vespasian, — to  which  was 
added  the  despotic  and  Rome-serving  rule  of  Herod  and 
his  successors — the  cringing  spirit  of  the  Jewish  aristocracy, 
the  antagonism  of  parties,  and  the  many  hardships  which 


148 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


families  and  individuals  had  to  bear, — all  this  would 
abundantly  prove  that  Palestine  was  no  longer  a  land 
flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  And  at  the  time  when  they 
had  to  bear  external  trouble  in  many  forms,  their  inward 
need  and  distress  of  soul  were  greatest  and  most  oppres- 
sive. The  people  strove  for  righteousness,  for  peace  of 
heart,  for  the  certainty  of  salvation,  and  yet  never  reached 
by  the  Law,  by  their  pious  practices,  nor  by  all  their  out- 
ward works,  what  they  longed  for — the  blessed  rest  of  the 
soul.  New  ways  were  sought  out,  and  the  right  one  never 
discovered.  They  found  their  great  comfort  now,  for  this 
outward  and  inward  misery,  in  the  ancient  predictions  and 
promises  ;  and  the  conviction  expressed  by  the  woman  of 
Samaria,  at  Jacob's  well,  was  that  of  many  in  Israel :  "  I 
know  that  Messias  cometh,  which  is  called  Christ :  when 
he  is  come  he  will  tell  us  all  things"  (John  iv.  25).  They 
looked  forward  now  more  than  ever  to  deliverance  from 
the  yoke  of  foreign  rule,  to  better  times  poHtically,  and 
also  to  peaceful  and  blessed  days  which  should  bring 
healing  and  life  to  their  souls. 

And  they  might  well  cherish  such  a  hope ;  for  it  was 
founded  upon  the  Scriptures,  upon  the  writings  of  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets,  on  which  the  brightest  expecta- 
tions might  be  built,  and  the  promises  of  devoted  men  of 
God,  whose  veracity  was  not  open  to  doubt.  The  greater 
the  outward  and  inward  pressure,  the  more  living  and 
ardent,  as  we  have  seen,  became  the  desire  and  the  hope 
of  deliverance  from  it ;  and  thus  we  find  that  just  before, 
and  at  the  time  of  Jesus,  the  hearts  of  all  Israelites  were 
filled  with  longing  for  the  speedy  coming  of  Him,  of 
whom  the  prophets  spake,  the  Messiah,  whose  advent 


THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 


Avould  be  the  dawn  of  a  new  day  of  salvation  and 
happiness. 

It  is  characteristic  that  the  Messianic  hope,  which  at 
the  bottom  rested  upon  the  canonical  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  Testament,  was,  in  the  time  of  which  we  speak, 
chiefly  sustained  and  stimulated  by  the  utterances  of  the 
book  of  Daniel,  by  some  intimations  in  the  Apocrypha, 
and  especially  by  the  so-called  apocalyptic  books. 

These  latter  were  writings  which,  professedly  on  the 
ground  of  Divine  revelation,  gave  in  enigmatical  and 
obscure  language  information  about  the  mysteries  of 
Nature,  of  human  life  and  the  kingdom  of  God.  They 
wxre  fitted  to  console  and  strengthen  men's  mmds  amidst 
the  troubles  of  the  present  by  the  announcement  of  the 
near  approach  of  the  heavenly  kingdom  and  the  judg- 
ment of  the  wicked.  As  if  to  keep  the  word  of  ancient 
prophecy  alive,  and  to  impress  it  on  the  minds  of  the 
people,  it  was  repeated  in  many  books,  down  to  the  time 
of  Our  Lord,  such  as  the  apocryphal  works  of  Enoch, 
Baruch,  and  Esdras ;  and  even  found  its  way  into  the 
Jewish  portion  of  the  heathen  "  Sibylline  verses."  From 
all  we  know  it  is  evident  that  the  Messianic  expectation 
had  especially  developed  itself  in  the  two  last  centuries 
before  the  Christian  Era,  and  that  in  the  time  of  Jesus  it 
was  everywhere  alive  and  stirring  in  the  minds  of  the 
Jews. 

One  of  the  best  read  and  favourite  books  of  the  period 
was,  as  is  evident  from  Josephus,"^  the  Book  of  Daniel.  It 
was  a  prophecy  of  comparatively  recent  date,  containing 
predictions  of  a  time  coming  in  which  the  most  powerful 
heathen   kingdoms   of  the  earth,  of  which  four  are 


150 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


mentioned  under  the  metaphor  of  mighty  beasts  (Daniel 
vii.  2-27),  will  be  broken  in  pieces  and  destroyed;  and 
when  in  their  place  a  kingdom  shall  be  established  by 
God,  which  shall  stand  for  ever  (Daniel  ii.  44).  The 
"  saints  of  the  most  High"  are  to  receive  the  kingdom  and 
"  possess  it  for  ever  and  ever  "  (Daniel  vii.  18).  A  "  time 
of  trouble,"  such  as  never  was  before,  is  to  precede  the 
day  of  deliverance,  but  at  last  all  the  people  of  God  are 
to  share  in  the  great  Salvation  (Daniel  xii.  i)  ;  the 
righteous  dead  are  to  awake,  and  arise  from  their  graves, 
and  enter  into  eternal  life,  while  the  wicked  shall  rise  to 
"  shame  and  everlasting  contempt "  (verse  2).  Whether 
the  author  thought  of  a  Messianic  prince  as  at  the  head 
of  this  kingdom  cannot  be  made  out  with  certainty  from 
his  vision  recorded  in  chapter  vii.  Many  expositors,  from 
ancient  times  till  now,  understand  by  the  expression  "  the 
Son  of  Man"  (chapter  vii.  13),  the  founder  and  ruler  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  language  of  Jesus  himself 
confirms  that  interpretation  (Matthew  viii.  20  ;  xxvi.  64  ; 
Luke  xxi.  27),  and  is  thought  to  refer  to  the  passage 
cited  from  Daniel.  Others  think  that,  in  contrast  with 
the  symbolical  beasts,  the  "  Son  of  Man,  coming  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven,"  may  be  understood  as  meaning  the 
holy  people,  "  the  saints  of  the  most  High,"  to  whom  the 
heavenly  kingdom  is  given,  and  that  the  words  of  the 
Book  itself  support  the  view  (compare  chapter  vii.  18,  27  ; 
ii.  44).  It  was  nothing  strange,  however  that  the  Jews 
should  read  glowing  prophecies  of  their  Messiah  in  the 
Book  of  Daniel. 

The  apocryphal  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  also 
contain  evidences — although,  by  reason  of  their  historical 


THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 


151 


character,  only  in  a  few  intimations — of  the  hope  in  the 
speedy  coming  of  dehverance  from  trouble  by  the  hands 
of  a  personal  liberator.  The  scattered  children  of  Israel 
are  to  be  gathered  together  at  Jerusalem,  from  distant 
lands,  to  worship  the  Lord  their  God  (Baruch  iv.  36  ;  II. 
Maccabees  ii.  18;  Tobit  xiii.  10-14);  the  posterity  of  David 
are  to  possess  the  kingdom  for  ever  (I.  Maccabees  ii.  57). 
Especially  significant  is  the  statement  in  I.  Maccabees 
iv.  46,  that  Judas  Maccabeus  adopted  certain  measures, 
provisionally,  "  until  there  should  come  a  Prophet  to  show 
what  should  be  done ; "  and  the  fact  stated  in  chapter 
xiv.  41,  of  the  same  book,  that  Simon  accepted  the  office 
of  High  Priest  and  Prince  of  the  Jews,  with  the  condition 
that  he  should  hold  it  "  until  there  should  arise  a  faithful 
Prophet,"  who  should  be  the  highest  among  the  people. 

All  this  shows  that  the  promised  Deliverer  was  regarded 
not  merely  as  a  religious,  but  also  as  a  political  and 
theocratic  Messiah, 

The  religion  of  the  Jews  was  inseparably  linked  with 
the  constitution  of  their  State,  so  that  they  could  not 
imagine  a  Messiah  who  was  not  destined  to  fill  a  pre- 
eminent place  in  the  political  history  of  the  nation  ;  and 
we  can  easily  understand  how  the  political  features  of  the 
Messianic  kingdom  were  for  the  multitude  in  the  fore- 
ground of  the  picture. 

Among  the  apocalyptic  writings  which  we  have  already 
mentioned,  were  the  so-called  Sibylline  prophecies,  a 
collection  of  predictions  in  poetic  form,  after  the  model  of 
the  heathen  Oracles.  Some  of  them  contain  Christian 
elements  belonging  to  the  first  century ;  but  the  oldest 
portions,  especially  parts  of  Book  III.  (verses  632-807),  are 


152 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


really  of  Jewish  origin,  and  were  probably  written  by  a 
Jew  of  Alexandria,  about  B.C.  140.  These  contain 
numerous  utterances  about  the  coming  Messianic  period. 
A  king  is  to  appear,  who  shall  put  an  end  to  war  in  all 
the  earth.  The  heathen,  who  will  once  more  assemble 
themselves  against  Jerusalem,  are  to  perish  miserably. 
Under  the  protection  of  the  heaven-sent  king,  peace  and 
rest  are  to  be  given  to  Israel ;  and  afterwards  the  Gentile 
peoples  also  shall  be  brought  to  reverence  God  and  His 
Temple.  At  last  God  will  establish  upon  the  earth  an 
eternal  kingdom  of  peace,  into  which  all  men  shall  be 
gathered. 

The  apocryphal  Book  of  Enoch,  w^hich  was  well  known 
in  the  time  of  Jesus,  and  may  have  been  written  about 
B.C.  130,  speaks  often  of  the  appearance  of  the  "  Chosen 
one,"  the  "  Anointed,"  the  "  Son  of  man,"  and  the  "  Tree 
of  righteousness ; "  and  prophesies  that  the  Messianic 
theocracy  is  near  at  hand.  Yet  once  more,  will  the 
heathen  try  their  strength  against  Israel,  but  in  vain.  All 
seducers,  all  oppressors  and  all  apostates  are  to  be  cast 
down  into  a  deep  pit  full  of  fire.  A  new  Jerusalem  is  to 
arise,  wherein  the  godly  Israelites  shall  dwell,  and  the 
heathen  do  homage  to  them  ;  and  then  the  Messiah  shall 
appear,  and  all  the  world  be  converted  to  God  (compare 
Jude  14  and  15). 

Another  source  of  information  as  to  what  was  passing 
in  the  minds  of  the  children  of  Israel,  in  the  last  century, 
before  Christ,  is  the  so-called  "  Psalter  of  Solomon," 
which  sets  in  a  clear  light  the  mind  of  the  better  sort 
amcng  them  especially.  These  psalms  had  their  origin 
at  the  time  when  Pompey  subdued  Palestine  to  the 


THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 


153 


Roman  Power,  and  allowed  the  Asmoneans  no  hope  for 
the  future.  All  the  hopes  of  the  Psalmist  are  set  on  that 
which  he,  in  common  with,  all  the  faithful  of  the  land, 
ardently  desires,  the  subjugation  of  the  foreigner  by  a 
king  of  David's  race,  who  shall  tolerate  no  heathenism 
and  no  unrighteousness  among  the  people.  Under  his 
rule  all  are  to  be  sanctified,  for  he  shall  be  the  "  Anointed 
of  the  Lord,"  whom  God  will  make  wise  and  mighty  by 
His  Holy  Spirit,  and  who  will,  therefore,  strike  down 
the  foe  by  the  word  of  his  mouth — a  king  of  righteous- 
ness and  truth,  who  shall  lead  all  into  integrity,  holiness, 
and  happiness. 

Reference  may  also  be  made  to  the  Targums  (that  is, 
"  translations  ")  of  Onkelos  and  Jonathan,  which,  as  is 
well  known,  were  more  or  less  free  paraphrases  of  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  Prophets  in  the  Aramaic  dialect. 
Although  they  were  composed  at  a  later  period  than  the 
books  we  have  already  cited,  it  is  certain  that  in  them 
"materials  are  turned  to  account,  on  whose  production 
many  generations  had  laboured,  and  which  cover  a  period 
extending  to  the  apostolic  age,  and  even  beyond  it."^^* 
We  may  therefore  regard  many  of  the  expectations  which 
are  expressed  in  these  books  as  having  been  current  in 
the  time  of  Jesus.  Many  passages  of  the  Old  Testament 
are  evidently  understood  in  a  Messianic  sense ;  and  it  is 
especially  significant  that  Onkelos  renders  the  mysterious 
name  ^^S/iiloA"  (Genesis  xlix.  lo)  by  Messiah,  and  expects 
the  prophecy  to  be  fulfilled  as  soon  as  the  sceptre  shall 
be  taken  away  from  Judah.  And  this  was  the  national 
opinion  in  the  days  of  Jesus  (compare  John  vi.  14  ;  i.  19  ; 
vii.  31  ;  Acts  xiii.  32,  &c).    The  prediction,  concerning 


154 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


the  "Star  of  Jacob"  (Numbers  xxiv.  17),  is  also  under- 
stood by  Onkelos  as  referring  to  the  coming  Messianic 
King.  And  Jonathan  regards  the  last  words  of  David 
(II.  Samuel  xxiii.  3  and  4)  as  a  prophecy  relating  to  the 
time  of  the  Messiah.  He  calls  the  Messiah  the  "  Hero," 
the  "  King  "  (compare  Isaiah  ix.  6),  who  shall  deliver  the 
people  from  their  Pagan  foes.  He  makes  the  striking 
passage  in  Isaiah  xi.  i  and  2,  refer  to  the  Messiah  as  the 
great  teacher,  and  understands  chapter  liii.  5  to  describe 
him  as  the  forgiver  of  sins.  The  time  of  the  Messiah  is, 
according  to  him,  to  be  one  of  holiness  and  righteousness. 
At  last  the  coming  king  will  separate  the  godly  from  the 
ungodly,  leading  the  first  to  eternal  life,  and  the  latter  to 
deserved  punishment. 

The  same  magnificent  prospects  for  Israel's  future  are 
expressed  in  the  book  called  "  The  Ascension  of  Moses," 
which  was  composed  shortly  before  the  birth  of  Jesus.  In 
a  highly  poetical  delineation,  it  describes  the  kingdom  of 
God  as  coming  after  a  time  of  great  misery  and  oppres- 
sion, when  the  celestial  king  will  arise  from  his  throne  and 
chastise  the  heathen  and  destroy  their  gods.  And  then 
Israel  shall  prosper,  and  in  his  gladness  give  thanks  to 
the  Lord. 

In  a  similar  general  way  the  "  Book  of  Jubilees,"  which 
originated  shortly  after  the  death  of  Jesus,  describes  first 
the  unspeakable  misery,  and  after  that  the  glory  that 
shall  follow  in  the  Messianic  age. 

The  Jewish  community  in  Alexandria  were  filled  with 
the  brightest  hopes  of  a  better  future  which  should  dawn 
with  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  Their  principal  repre- 
sentative, Philo,  speaks  explicitly  about  it  in  two  of  his 


THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 


155 


writings.'^  He  says  in  the  first  that  all  who  are  converted 
to  the  Law  of  God  shall  be  gathered  together  in  an 
appointed  place  (Jerusalem) ;  a  divine  and  superhuman 
phenomenon,  only  visible  to  the  saved,  will  lead  them  to 
the  spot.  The  ruined  cities  will  be  built  up  again,  the 
desert  wastes  again  inhabited,  and  the  barren  land  become 
a  fruitful  field.  In  a  passage  of  the  other  book,  he 
describes  a  time  of  prosperity  and  peace,  as  a  day  in 
which  men  will  be  safe  from  wild  beasts,  and  when  unity 
and  concord  shall  dwell  amongst  them.  A  man  will  come 
forth,  says  the  prediction  (compare  Numbers  xxiv.  17),  who 
shall  take  the  field  and  make  war,  overcoming  great  and 
populous  nations,  while  God  Himself  sends  aid.  The 
saints  will  possess  holiness,  power,  and  benevolence,  and 
thereby  beget  reverence,  fear,  and  love.  Wealth  and 
prosperity,  health  and  physical  energy,  will  fall  to  the  lot 
of  the  godly  in  the  Messianic  time. 

It  is  certainly  remarkable  and  peculiar  that  Josephus, 
to  whom  we  are  much  indebted  for  his  work  on  the  Anti- 
quities of  the  Jews  and  his  History  of  the  Great  War,  is 
almost  silent  about  the  expectations  which  existed  at  that 
time  ;  and,  indeed,  intentionally  avoids  referring  explicitly 
to  the  Messianic  predictions.  The  expression  in  the  well- 
known  passage."^  which  may  be  interpreted  in  a  Messianic 
sense  ("This  was  the  Christ")  may  either  be  only  an 
interpolation,  or  may  simply  mean  :  "  This  was  the  Mes- 
siah of  the  popular  behef."  One  thing,  however,  is 
conceded  by  Josephus,  that  the  hope  of  a  Messiah 
strengthened  and  supported  the  Jews  in  the  decisive 
struggle  at  Jerusalem  and  it  is  also  his  hope,  as  he 
intimates  when  giving  an  account  of  Baalam's  prophecy, 


156  IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 

that  his  people  are  destined  to  spread  over  the  whole 
earth,  and  to  gain  victory  and  power.  His  shy  and 
reserved  attitude  in  relation  to  the  expectations  of  his 
people  may  be  due  to  the  fact  that  his  works  were 
intended  for  the  Romans,  and  that  he  did  not  wish  to 
beget  in  their  minds  any  suspicion  of  rebelhous  inten- 
tions among  the  Jews,  still  less  to  get  himself  into  discredit 
with  the  emperor,  whose  favour  he  endeavoured  by  every 
means  to  win  and  retain.  Would  he,  in  opposition  to  the 
views  of  all  his  people,  have  applied  the  Messianic  pro- 
phecies to  Vespasian  as  the  true  king  of  Israel, if  it  had 
not  been  to  do  homage  to  him  and  court  his  favour  ? 

That  the  Jewish  people  notoriously  looked  and  waited 
for  the  arrival  of  the  Messianic  period  is  evident,  not  only 
from  the  statements  of  the  books  we  have  cited,  but  also 
from  the  expressions  of  even  heathen  authors,  such  as  the 
well-known  passages  in  Tacitus, in  Suetonius,^"'*'  and  in 
Virgil.  Moreover,  the  attempts  of  some  men — such  as 
Theudas  (Acts  v.  36),  or  the  pseudo-prophets,  about  a.d. 
70 — to  give  themselves  out  as  the  true  Saviour,  and  the 
extent  to  which  they  were  believed  in  by  the  multitude, 
are  further  evidences  of  the  expectations  of  the  Jews. 
Even  in  the  last  hour  of  the  assault  upon  the  Temple  a 
lying  prophet  gathered  six  thousand  men  around  him  on 
the  pretence  that  he  was  going  to  be  their  deliverer.  That 
the  people  did  not  give  up  their  hope  of  a  great  deliver- 
ance, even  after  the  destruction  of  the  city,  is  shown  by 
the  apocalyptic  writings  of  Baruch  and  the  fourth  Book 
of  Esdras,  which  there  is  reason  to  believe  had  their 
origin  shortly  after  the  catastrophe  at  Jerusalem ;  and  also 
by  the  daily  prayer  of  the  Jews,  which,  among  other 


THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 


157 


things,  contains  the  petition  for  the  coming  of  the  Son  of 
David  and  the  estabHshment  of  his  kingdom.  They  con- 
tinued to  hope  even  after  they  had  rejected  Him  who  was 
truly  the  Messiah  of  his  people,  and  Prophet,  Priest,  and 
King  in  one  great  personality — not,  it  is  true,  a  King  of 
this  world,  but  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  (Matthew  xxvii.  ii  ;  John  xviii.  36,  37). 

This  leads  us  back  to  the  times  when  Jesus  lived  upon 
the  earth,  and  to  the  Messianic  views  which  the  New 
Testament  brings  before  us.  That  just  in  this  period 
men's  hopes  were  fixed  more  than  ever  upon  the  Messiah, 
we  may  see  by  many  intimations  and  declarations  of  the 
Gospels.  The  question  of  John  the  Baptist :  "Art  thou 
he  that  should  come  or  do  we  look  for  another?"  (Mat- 
thew xi.  3  ;  compare  John  vii.  29)  shows  clearly  that  the 
desire  and  expectation  was  rooted  in  men's  minds.  The 
most  prominent  and  general  feature  here,  also,  was  that  the 
Dehverer  was  thought  of  as  one  who  should  restore  the 
national  independence  and  greatness  of  the  people  of 
Israel.  The  disciples  could  not  give  up  such  hopes  even 
after  the  resurrection  (Luke  xxiv.  21) ;  this  is  shown  by 
the  utterances  of  the  two  who  were  on  the  way  to  Em- 
maus,  and  by  the  fact  that  even  on  the  day  of  the  ascen- 
sion the  disciples  questioned  Jesus  :  "  Lord,  wilt  thou  at 
this  time  restore  again  the  kingdom  to  Israel  ?"  (Acts  i.  6). 
With  the  same  view  the  multitude  wished  to  "take  him  by 
force  to  make  him  a  king"  (John  vi.  15).  It  was  because 
they  believed  him  to  be  the  Messiah  that  the  people 
acclaimed  him  on  his  entrance  into  Jerusalem.  This  was 
the  pretext  for  his  accusation  before  Pilate,  as  seditious 
and  dangerous  to  the  State,  and  his  being  put  to  the  ques- 


158 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


tion,  whether  he  claimed  to  be  the  King  of  the  Jews  ? 
(Luke  xxiii.  2, 3  ;  Matthew  xxvii.  1 1 ;  John  xviii.  33).  And 
when  the  council  of  chief  priests  and  Pharisees  say  :  "  If 
we  let  this  man  alone,  all  men  will  believe  on  him,  and 
the  Romans  shall  come  and  take  away  both  our  place  and 
nation  "  (John  xi.  48),  it  teaches  us  that  the  name  of  the 
Messiah  was  easily  linked  with  possible  political  agitations, 
and  that  his  enemies  among  the  Jews  had  some  apparent 
ground  for  pretending  that  the  popular  recognition  of 
Jesus,  as  a  political  king,  would  occasion  a  revolution. 

But  we  should  be  mistaken  if  we  regarded  the  Messiah 
of  Jewish  expectation  as  only  a  king  of  the  State.  In  the 
mindSj  especially  of  the  better  sort  among  them  and  the 
more  deeply  interested,  the  office  had  a  higher  signifi- 
cance. John  the  Baptist  declared  that  one  (the  Messiah) 
was  coming  after  him  who  was  "  preferred  before  him," 
who  was  "  mightier  than  he,"  whose  "shoe's  latchet  he  was 
not  worthy  to  unloose  ;"  but  who  should  "baptize  with 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire  "  (Matthew  iii.  1 1  ;  Mark  i. 
7  ;  John  i.  27) ;  and  thus  he  placed  the  Messiah  far  above 
himself  and  every  other  man.  Especially  did  "  such  as 
were  quiet  in  the  land,"  the  godly  in  Israel,  place  their 
whole  confidence  in  the  promises  of  the  Scripture  (Luke 
i.  70-79),  and  hope  for  a  Messiah  who  would  not  only  be 
a  deliverer  from  external  enemies,  but  also  a  Saviour  from 
unrighteousness  and  perdition.  Zacharias,  in  his  song  of 
praise  (Luke  i.  67  etc.),  speaks  of  the  visitation  and 
redemption  of  his  people  from  the  hand  of  all  who  hated 
them  ;  but  declares  that  the  object  of  that  deliverance 
was  that  they  might  "  serve  God  in  holiness  and  righteous- 
ness all  the  days  of  their  life,"  their  sins  being  forgiven 


THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 


159 


and  their  feet  led  into  the  way  of  peace."  And  how 
heartfelt  is  the  gratitude  of  the  aged  Simeon  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  his  greatest  hope  when  he  exclaims  :  "  Lord  now 
lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  according  to  thy 
word  :  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation  which  thou 
hast  prepared  before  the  face  of  all  people ;  a  hght  to 
lighten  the  Gentiles  and  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel " 
(Luke  ii.  29-32) !  How  well  the  thanksgiving  of  Anna, 
the  God-fearing  widow  of  eighty-four  years,  harmonizes 
with  Simeon's  word,  when  she,  "  coming  in  that  instant, 
gave  thanks  likewise  unto  the  Lord,  and  spake  of  him  to 
all  them  that  looked  for  redemption  in  Jerusalem  "  (Luke 
ii.  36)  !  And  of  such  rehgious,  trustful,  and  hoping  souls 
there  were  certainly  not  a  few  in  the  land  who,  on  the 
ground  of  prophetic  promises,  held  firmly  to  the  belief 
that  now  the  day  of  salvation,  not  merely  of  political  but 
of  moral  and  spiritual  deliverance,  was  not  far  off ;  and 
that  the  desire  of  all  hearts  would  soon  appear  in  their 
midst  as  the  Redeemer,  the  Saviour,  and  the  Light  of  the 
world. 

People  of  some  note  in  the  country,  like  the  "  honour- 
able counsellor,"  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  also  "  waited  for 
the  kingdom  of  God  "  (Mark  xv.  43) ;  as  well  as  the  more 
lowly  people,  some  of  whom  afterwards  became  the  disci- 
ples of  Jesus.  There  were  times  also  when  some  concep- 
tion of  the  higher  Messiahship  of  Jesus  flashed  upon  the 
minds  of  his  disciples,  notwithstanding  their  political 
views  and  expectations.  Not  only  did  Peter,  speaking  for 
himself  and  the  others,  once  declare  :  "  Thou  art  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  hving  God"  (Matthew  xvi.  16),  but 
at  another  time  the  disciples  in  a  body  were  constrained 


160 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS, 


to  confess  that  he  had  fulfilled  their  highest  hopes  (Mat- 
thew xiv.  33).  In  the  same  way  Martha  (John  xi.  27) 
and  Nathaniel  (John  i.  49),  acknowledged  the  Lord  as 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  King  of  Israel.  And 
when  even  the  tempter  and  the  demons  speak  of  him  as 
the  Christ  and  the  Son  of  God  (Matthew  iv.  3,  6  ;  Luke 
iv.  41),  they  show  very  evidently  that  this  was  the  character 
in  which  the  Messiah  was  expected  to  appear  at  that 
time  ;  they  make  use  of  expressions  which  were  customary 
in  the  mouths  of  the  people.  Also  from  the  solemn 
question  of  Caiaphas  :  "I  adjure  thee  by  the  living  God, 
that  thou  tell  us  whether  thou  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God  !  "  (Matthew  xxvi.  63)  we  can  only  conclude  that  the 
Jews  expected  the  Messiah  to  be  the  King  of  Israel  and 
the  Son  of  God.  And  do  not  the  scornful  words  spoken 
at  the  foot  of  the  cross  point  to  the  same  conclusion 
(Matthew  xxvii.  40)  ?  That  some  at  another  time  should 
say:  "AVhen  Christ  cometh  no  man  knoweth  whence  he 
is"  (John  vii.  27),  must  be  explained  as  a  presentiment  on 
their  part  of  the  mysterious  exalted  origin  and  Divine 
dignity  of  the  Messiah ;  since,  as  regards  his  earthly  origin, 
it  was  well  known  from  the  Scriptures  that  Bethlehem  was 
to  be  his  birth-place  (Micah  v.  2 ;  Matthew  ii.  4 ; 
John  vii.  42).  And  when  others  say  with  reference  to  the 
works  of  Jesus  :  "  When  Christ  cometh  will  He  do  more 
miracles  than  these  which  this  man  hath  done  ? " 
(John  vii.  31)  it  indicates  that  the  Messiah  was  expected 
to  do  mighty  works.  It  is  plain  that  the  people  also 
looked  for  a  Messiah  who  would  be  filled  with  the  spirit 
of  prophecy,  and  so  characterized  him  when  speaking  of 
his  advent  (John  vi.  14;  Matthew  xxi.  11).     That  the 


THE  MESSIANIC  HOPE. 


161 


gifts  of  prophecy  and  oratory  were  ascribed  to  the 
Messiah  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  the  false 
Messiahs,  who  arose  at  a  later  period,  gave  themselves  out 
as  prophets,  and  were  so  designated  by  the  people.  The 
Samaritans  also  expected  the  Messiah  to  be  a  prophet. 
As  their  religious  opinions  were  founded  entirely  on  the 
Pentateuch,  they  derived  their  Messianic  hopes  altogether 
from  Moses,  and  comforted  themselves  down  to  the  time 
of  Jesus  with  the  prediction ;  "  The  Lord  thy  God  will 
raise  up  unto  thee  a  Prophet  from  the  midst  of  thee,  of 
thy  brethren"  (Deuteronomy  xviii.  15).  That  they 
thought  of  the  Messiah  as  above  all  a  holy  teacher,  a 
prophet  who  would  instruct  them  in  all  things,  is  evident 
from  the  language  of  the  Samaritan  woman  at  Jacob's 
well  (John  iv.  25,  29,  42).  Finally,  we  know  from  the 
Gospels  (Matthew  xx.  28  ;  John  i.  29,  iii.  14),  from  Paul 
(I.  Corinthians  xv.  3  ;  Galatians  i.  4 ;  Romans  v.  6 ; 
compare  Isaiah  liii.  8,  9),  and  from  the  epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  (chapter  vii.  27  and  ix.  12),  that  the  Christ  was 
to  be  a  great  High  Priest  and  a  Mediator  between  man 
and  God.  The  numerous  passages,  familiar  to  all,  which 
might  be  quoted  on  this  subject,  make  it  evident  that  the 
idea  of  the  high-priesthood  of  the  Messiah  was  everywhere 
a  familiar  one  in  the  minds  of  the  people. 

After  the  evidences  which  we  have  adduced  from  the 
abundant  testimony  which  exists,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  nothing  was  so  powerful  and  moving  in  the  time 
when  Jesus  came  as  the  longing  desire  for  the  fulfilment 
of  the  predictions  laid  down  in  the  Sacred  Books,  and 
newly  revived  in  the  later  writings  to  which  we  have 
referred.    In  all  circles  people  were  waiting  and  hoping 

M 


162 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


for  the  Messiah.  To  many,  it  is  true,  he  was  only  the 
expected  dehverer  from  outward  misery,  a  king  who 
should  liberate  the  people  from  foreign  rule,  and  restore 
prosperity  and  happiness  to  the  country.  But  a  more 
spiritual  conception  inspired  the  minds  of  many,  an  image 
of  a  sublimer  spiritual  Messiah,  one  who  should  bring 
healing  to  the  soul,  peace  to  the  conscience,  and  lead  men 
into  Divine  blessedness. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  may  be  said,  however,  the 
hope  of  the  people  was  never  equal  to  the  reality.  He 
who  fulfilled  it  was  greater  than  all  their  expectations.  Far 
above  all  that  the  Jews  thought  of,  was  the  work  of  Him 
at  whose  appearance  the  angels  sang  :  "  Glory  to  God  in 
the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace,  goodwill  towards  men  " 
(Luke  ii.  14).    Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was  in  truth  the 
great  deliverer  come  from  God,  who  brought  salvation  and 
happiness  not  only  for  Israel  but  for  all  mankind.  Mourn- 
ful and  terrible  is  the  truth,  that  after  all  the  real  Messiah 
had  to  look  down  upon  Jerusalem  from  the  heights  of 
Olivet  and  utter  that  pathetic  and  awful  lamentation  in 
which  the  yearning  of  an  infinite  pity  blends  with  the 
stern  severity  of  just  necessity  :  "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,' 
thou  that  killest  the  prophets,  and  stonest  them  which  are 
sent  unto  thee,  how  often  would  I  have  gathered  thy 
children  together  even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens 
under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not !    Behold,  your  house 
is  left  unto  you  desolate"  (Matthew xxiii.  37,  38).  Thanks 
be  to  God,  His  light  beamed  forth  from  Israel  into  all 
parts  of  the  world,  banishing  the  darkness  and  illumining 
even  to  this  hour  the  way  that  leads  to  the  Eternal  Light ! 


^163 


VIII. 

The  Jews  in  the  Dispersion. 


The  native  land  and  chief  home  of  the  Jewish  race  was 
Palestine,  with  the  capital  city  of  Jerusalem.  But  we 
should  greatly  err  if  we  imagined  that  no  Jews  were  to  be 
found  elsewhere.  A  multitude  of  them  were  scattered 
abroad  in  the  so-called  diaspora^  or  dispersion  (John  vii. 
35  ;  James  i.  i) ;  and  indeed  the  number  of  Jews  who 
were  settled  in  countries  and  cities  outside  of  Palestine 
was  as  great  or  even  greater  than  the  population  of  the 
Holy  Land  itself.  Many  of  the  Jews  did  not  avail  them- 
selves of  the  permission  given  by  Cyrus  for  their  return 
from  the  great  exile  ;  it  was  chiefly  the  tribes  of  Judah 
and  Benjamin  who  again  sought  out  their  native  land. 
The  rest  of  the  tribes  for  the  most  part  preferred  to 
remain  in  their  new  home  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Euphrates.  Since  that  time  great  numbers  had  migrated 
from  Palestine  west,  south,  and  north,  so  that  the  Jewish 
people  were  scattered  over  almost  all  parts  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  Hence  Josephus  speaks  of  the  habitable  world 
being  full  of  them,  and  quotes  Strabo,  as  saying  that  it 
was  "hard  to  find  a  place  in  the  earth  that  had,  not 
admitted  this  tribe  of  men,  and  was  not  possessed  by 
them."^*^  And  Philo  writes  :  "The  Jews  are  not  as  other 
nations,  shut  up  within  the  circumference  of  one  country, 
they  inhabit  almost  all  the  world,  and  have  poured  forth 


164  IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS, 

into  all  continents  and  islands."  A  passage  in  Acts  ii. 
5-12  bears  powerful  testimony  to  this  fact. 

In  Assyria,  Media,  Babylonia,  and  Mesopotamia, 
thousands  of  Jews  resided.  In  the  low  countries  of  the 
Euphrates  they  carried  on  agriculture  and  cattle  farming ; 
and  trade,  in  places  situated  on  any  of  the  great  routes  of 
commerce.  Nisibis  and  Nearda  are  especially  spoken  of 
as  great  Jewish  centres,  in  which  there  were  treasuries  for 
the  reception  of  offerings  intended  for  the  Temple,  which 
were  annually  conveyed  to  Jerusalem  under  the  escort  of 
thousands  of  armed  men."*  There  were  also  many  Jews 
in  what  was  then  the  kingdom  of  Adiabene,  now  known 
as  Kurdistan,  lying  to  the  north  and  east  of  the  Tigris  ; 
and  many  heathens  became  proselytes  to  the  Jewish  faith. 
Indeed  the  king  himself,  Izates,  and  his  mother,  Helena, 
went  over  to  Judaism  about  the  time  of  the  death  of 
Jesus."^  On  this  side  the  Euphrates  there  was  a  Jewish 
population  in  many  places,  especially  in  Palmyra ;  and 
even  in  the  province  of  Yemen,  in  Arabia  Felix,  there 
were  already  flourishing  Jewish  settlements  in  the  second 
century  before  Christ.  It  is  possible  that  the  Apostle 
Paul,  after  his  conversion  at  Damascus,  laboured  for  three 
years  in  the  work  of  the  Gospel  among  the  Jews  in  Arabia 
(Galatians  i.  17,  18).  Moreover,  all  the  cities  which  had 
been  conquered  by  Alexander  the  Great  and  his  generals 
in  Asia  were  partly  inhabited  by  Jewish  colonists.  Here 
their  settlement  was  favoured  by  the  friendly  disposition 
of  the  great  king,  who  granted  them  equal  privileges  as 
citizens  with  the  Greeks  and  Macedonians,  and  allowed 
them  perfect  freedom  in  the  practice  of  their  religion.  If 
in  the  early  days  of  the  dispersion,  innumerable  Jews 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION.  165 


were  carried  away  to  foreign  lands  by  violence,  we  know 
that  in  later  periods  many  emigrated  of  their  own  free  will 
and  settled  in  other  countries,  for  the  reason  that  they 
found  there  greater  commercial  or  other  advantages  than 
in  Palestine,  where  the  imports  were  more  burdensome 
and  life  more  contracted  and  anxious.  Between  the  Jews 
dispersed  in  the  east  and  those  of  Palestine  a  close  and 
heartfelt  union  was  maintained.  Jerusalem  and  the  Tem- 
ple were  continually  looked  up  to  by  the  Jews  in  the 
eastern  countries  as  the  centre  of  their  nationality  and 
religion ;  from  thence  they  received  the  teachings  of  their 
fathers,  and  the  regulations  for  the  feast  days  and  the 
calendar ;  and  thither  they  annually  journeyed  in  hundreds 
of  thousands  to  offer  sacrifices  and  to  worship  Jehovah  in 
the  Holy  Place.  It  was  this  regular  intercourse  between 
the  Jews  of  the  eastern  diaspora  and  Jerusalem  which,  in 
later  years,  opened  the  way  by  which  in  the  shortest  time 
the  Gospel  could  reach  the  farthest  countries  of  the 
Euphrates. 

The  Jews  of  other  foreign  localities  also  did  not  give 
up  their  connection  with  Jerusalem,  and  thus  they  too 
became,  in  later  times,  the  means  by  which  Christianity 
was  disseminated  in  their  own  neighbourhoods.  Under 
the  Seleucids,  especially  Seleucus  Nicator,  great  numbers 
of  them  had  migrated  to  Syria ;  and  Josephus  reports 
that,  comparatively  speaking,  it  was  there  that  the  Jews 
were  most  numerous."^  They  seem  to  have  been  at  home 
in  all  cities.  In  Damascus,  for  example,  they  numbered 
thousands,  had  several  synagogues  there  (Acts  ix.  2),  and 
drew  over  many  Gentiles,  especially  among  the  women,  to 
their  own  faith.    Under  Nero,  at  the  time  of  an  insurrec- 


166 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS, 


tion,  ten  thousand  of  the  Jews  in  Damascus  were  put  to 
death  at  once.^^''  The  Christian  rehgion  found  an  entrance 
into  Damascus  very  early  in  its  history,  as  we  may  see 
from  the  Hfe  and  labours  of  the  Apostle  Paul  (Acts  ix.  i,  2, 
xxii.  5,  etc.).  But  the  Syrian  Jews  were  most  numerous 
in  the  capital  city  of  Antioch,  the  principal  seat  of  Hel- 
lenistic culture  in  the  east.  Here  they  possessed  great 
privileges,  and  many  of  the  rights  of  Roman  citizenship, 
and  formed  among  themselves  a  separate  community  with 
an  archon,  or  ruler,  at  their  head.  Their  principal  syna- 
gogue was  regarded  as  very  rich  and  splendid  ;  and 
many  Gentiles  were  led,  through  it,  to  embrace  Judaism, 
among  whom  was  the  proselyte  Nicholas  (Acts  vi.  5),  who 
was  afterwards  converted  and  ordained  a  deacon  in  the 
Christian  church.  Through  Judaism  a  door  was  opened 
for  the  Christian  religion  here  also,  and  very  early  we  find 
a  flourishing  Christian  church  in  Antioch.  Many  of  the 
Christians  who  were  "  scattered  abroad  upon  the  persecu- 
tion that  arose  about  Stephen"  found  a  home  in  Antioch 
(Acts  xi.  19).  This  was  the  Antioch  where  the  disciples 
of  Jesus  were  "first  called  Christians"  (Acts  xi.  26;  com- 
pare I.  Peter  iv.  16) ;  where  Barnabas  was  a  prophet  and 
a  teacher,  and  set  out  with  Paul  on  their  first  missionary 
journey  (Acts  xiii.  2);  where  a  great  number  of  Greeks 
were  converted  (Acts  xi.  20,  21);  and  where  the  question 
whether  the  Christians  of  non-Jewish  descent  ought  to  be 
circumcised  was  answered  in  the  negative  (Acts  xv.  i,  2). 

In  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor  also  great  numbers  of  Jews 
resided."^  Antiochus  the  great  (b.c.  223-187)  settled 
several  thousand  Jewish  families,  from  Mesopotamia  and 
Babylonia,  in  Phrygia  and  Lydia,  and  granted  them  many 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION,  167 

privileges.^^  Wherever  Paul  came  in  his  journeys  through 
Asia  Minor  he  found  Jewish  synagogues  (Acts  xiii.  &c.).  It 
was  probably  from  Asia  Minor  that  the  Jews  found  their 
way  into  Greece  and  other  parts  of  Europe  to  carry  on 
business  there.  In  all  the  principal  cities  which  he  visited, 
Paul  had  free  access  to  the  Jewish  synagogues,  as  at 
Phihppi,  Thessalonica,  Berea,  Athens,  and  Corinth  (Acts 
xvii.  and  xviii.).  In  the  islands  lying  bet^veen  Asia  and 
Europe,  such  as  Euboea,  Cyprus,  and  Crete,  there  was 
also  no  small  number  of  Jewish  inhabitants.'^^  The  love 
of  trade  which  was  so  strong  among  the  Jews  at  last  led 
them  still  further  westwards,  into  Italy,  and  especially  to 
Rome  (Acts  xxviii.  17).  It  is  possible  that  some  even 
found  their  way  into  Spain,  where  they  might  hope  for 
many  advantages  and  great  profits.  IMany  Jews  had  also 
been  transported  to  Rome  as  the  prisoners  of  Pompey, 
who  were  afterwards  liberated  and  remained  as  Roman 
citizens,  dwelhng  for  the  most  part  on  the  further  side  of 
the  Tiber  (compare  Acts  vi.  9).  In  the  time  of  Augustus 
they  must  have  been  very  numerous  indeed,  as  when  a 
Jewish  deputation,  headed  by  Philo,  came  to  Rome,  they 
found  a  Jewish  community  there  numbering  eight  thous- 
and.^^^  Under  Tiberius  an  attempt  was  made  (a.d.  19) 
to  banish  them;^^^  but  in  the  year  40  they  had  again 
become  numerous,  and  although  Claudius'^  again  "  com- 
manded all  Jews  to  retire  from  Rome,"  when  Paul  came 
there  (x\cts  xxviii.  17)  he  found,  in  spite  of  that,  a 
numerous  Jewish  congregation.  In  the  New  Testament 
the  Jews  of  Rome  are  called  "  Libertines  "  and  they  had 
a  synagogue  at  Jerusalem  (Acts  vi.  9). 

The  city  of  Cyrene  on  the  northern  coast  of  Africa  was 


168 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


another  Jewish  settlement.  Ptolemy  I.^^^  sent  Jewish 
colonists  thither,  who  soon  acquired  for  themselves  a 
position  important  both  in  numbers  and  influence.  From 
thence  many  Jews  came  up  to  the  feasts  at  Jerusalem 
where  they  had  their  own  synagogue  (Acts  ii.  lo  and  vi.  9), 
and  where  many  of  them  were  afterwards  converted  to 
Christianity,  and  carried  the  Gospel  back  with  them  to 
their  own  country  (Acts  xi.  20  and  xiii.  i).  The  Simon 
whom  we  meet  with  in  the  history  of  Our  Lord's  passion 
was  a  Cyrenian  (Matthew  xxvii.  32 ;  Mark  xv.  21),  as  was 
also  Lucius  of  Antioch  (Acts  xiii.  i) ;  and  the  second 
book  of  Maccabees  speaks  of  itself  as  an  abridgment  of 
a  great  historical  work  by  one  Jason  of  Cyrene  (II.  Mac- 
cabees ii.  23 — 26).  Cyrenian  Jews  also  took  part  in  the 
insurrections  in  the  times  of  Trajan  and  Hadrian. 

Many  Jews  also  settled  in  Nubia  and  Ethiopia,  to  the 
south  of  Alexandria.  Philo  says  that  Jews  were  found  in 
Egypt  from  the  slopes  of  the  Lib5'an  mountains  to  the 
borders  of  Ethiopia. Probably  they  had  migrated  from 
Arabia,  between  which  country  and  Egypt  there  was 
active  commercial  intercourse.  The  Treasurer  of  Queen 
Candace,  who  was  a  proselyte,  was  from  Ethiopia,  and 
this  fact  shows  that  Jews  and  their  allies  were  to  be  found 
there. 

But  by  far  the  most  important  and  best  known  of  all 
the  foreign  cities  in  which  the  Jews  were  dispersed  was 
undoubtedly  Alexandria  in  Egypt.  Founded  by  the  great 
Macedonian,  in  the  year  B.C.  332,  and  after  his  death  ruled 
by  the  Ptolemies,  it  stood  for  centuries  one  of  the  most 
famous  and  remarkable  cities  of  the  world.  While  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile  the  ancient  Egyptian  population  hved 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION. 


169 


on,  preserving  their  religion  and  customs,  the  cities  of  the 
north,  more  especially  Alexandria,  had  been  filled  \vith 
Greek  and  Jewish  inhabitants.  Apart  from  its  wealth,  its 
noble  streets,  splendid  buildings  and  w^orks  of  art,  Alexan- 
dria was  celebrated  for  the  stirring  intellectual  life  which 
was  developed  in  it.  Ptolemy  I.  had  founded  there  the 
world-famed  museum,  which  contained  the  Alexandrian 
library  with  its  numerous  and  precious  volumes,  and  had 
also  dwellings  for  scholars,  artists,  and  poets,  who  came 
hither  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  be  present  in  the 
seat  of  the  world's  literature  and  art,  and  the  gathering 
place  of  the  intellectual  treasures  of  Greece  and  of  eastern 
lands.  And  to  this  intellectual  life  was  added  the  stirring 
activities  of  trade  and  industry,  so  that  the  commercial 
connections  of  Alexandria  extended  to  Arabia  and  India, 
to  the  peoples  inhabiting  the  deserts  on  the  south  and 
west,  and  along  the  coasts  of  the  Mediterranean  to  Syria 
and  Asia  Minor. 

Looking  at  these  facts  it  is  easy  to  understand  how  it 
was  that  Eg}'pt,  and  especially  Alexandria,  became  the 
principal  Jewish  colony.  It  was  Alexander  the  Great, 
however,  who  settled  large  numbers  of  Jews  in  the  new 
capital,  and  granted  them  equal  civil  rights  with  the 
Hellenistic  colonists,  although  many  Jews  had  made  their 
homes  in  Eg}'pt  before  his  time.^"  When  after  Alexander's 
death  the  storms  of  war  gathered  over  Palestine,  thousands 
of  Jews  were  forcibly  removed  to  Eg}'pt  by  Ptolemy  I. ; 
and  many  others  migrated  there  of  their  own  accord, 
attracted  by  the  "goodness  of  the  soil"  and  the  "hberality 
of  Ptolemy."  It  is  calculated  that  in  the  time  of  Jesus 
the  so-called  Delta,  which  formed  two  of  the  five  divisions 


170 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


of  the  city,  and  was  inhabited  mostly  by  Jews,  contained  a 
population  of  a  million,  although  there  were  Jews  living 
in  the  other  sections  also. 

The  position  of  the  Jews  in  Egypt  was  a  very  favour- 
able one ;  they  were  able  to  make  large  gains  in  trade, 
handicrafts,  and  skilled  labour,  and  also  to  carry  on 
agricultural  industries.  They  formed  a  separate  com- 
munity among  themselves  with  an  ethnarch  at  their 
head, with  whom,  at  a  later  period,  was  associated  a 
council  of  elders.^^°  Their  ancient  national  organization 
and  customs  were  preserved  ;  Jehovah  was  worshipped  in 
the  numerous  synagogues,  of  which  the  principal  one  in 
Alexandria  is  said  to  have  been  magnificent ;  and  at 
Leontopolis,  in  the  district  of  Heliopolis,  they  were  even 
permitted  to  erect  a  Temple  of  their  own.  About  i6o 
B.C.,  Onias,  the  son  of  the  High  Priest,  being  rejected 
from  the  succession  to  the  office,  fled  from  Jerusalem  to 
Alexandria,  and  was  favourably  received  by  Ptolemy  VI. 
(B.C.  180-146).  The  king  gave  over  to  him  an  almost 
ruined  temple  at  Leontopolis,  which  he  rebuilt  on  the 
model  of  that  at  Jerusalem,  but  on  a  smaller  and  more 
simple  scale.  It  had  similar  altars  for  sacrifice  and 
incense,  and  was  furnished  with  similar  vessels.  Onias 
himself  was  estabhshed  as  the  High  Priest  of  it,  and  the 
same  religious  services  were  performed  in  it  as  at 
Jerusalem,  from  B.C.  160  to  a.d.  72.  The  Jews  in 
Palestine,  especially  during  the  many  confusions  in  their 
own  country,  consented  to  this  with  certain  limitations 
(compare  Isaiah  xix  19);  but  demanded,  however,  the 
recognition  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  as  the  religious 
centre  for  Judaism  in  its  entirety.    The  Egyptian  Jews 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION.  171 

themselves  quite  coincided  with  this,  and  although  they 
willingly  made  pilgrimages  to  the  temple  of  Onias,  and 
offered  sacrifices  there,  they  regarded  it  as  only  a  kind  of 
mock-sun,  a  mere  image  of  the  original,  and  showed 
great  zeal  in  doing  honour  as  was  fitting  to  the  principal 
Temple  of  the  nation.  They  felt  themselves  one  people 
with  their  brethren  in  Palestine,  and  their  pride  was — 
although  scattered  abroad  and  having  their  special 
interests — everywhere  and  in  all  points  to  strictly  preserve 
their  nationality.  And  this  was  true  also  of  the  Jews 
everj'where  else  in  the  great  dispersion. 

What  was  the  bond  of  union  which  held  together,  not 
only  the  Jews  of  Alexandria,  but  all  those  who  had  been 
dispersed,  as  one  people  with  their  own  distinctive  type  of 
nature  and  character  ^ 

First  of  all  it  was,  as  Schneckenburger  shows, the 
power  of  an  ideal  in  the  mind  of  the  Jewish  people  which 
sustained  and  preserved  them  wheresoever  their  lot  might 
be  cast.  The  common  faith  in  a  Living  God  who  had 
led  the  chosen  people  hitherto  and  still  watched  over 
them — a  God  in  whom  they  could  place  their  whole  trust 
for  the  present  and  the  future — not  only  inspired  the 
Jews  with  a  sense  of  superiority  to  the  heathenism  by 
which  they  were  surrounded,  and  which,  with  its  faith  in 
dead  and  empty  deities,  was  far  below  their  level,  but  also 
preserved  them  from  mixing  themselves  up  with  it.  Their 
regard  for  the  Mosaic  Law  was  also  a  powerful  influence 
in  maintaining  their  distinct  nationality  and  separate 
existence  among  foreign  peoples.  The  Law  regulated 
almost  every  movement  of  daily  life  and  intercourse,  all 
the  conditions  and  relatior  s  of  their  morals,  manners,  and 


172 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


customs,  and  gave  to  every  expression  of  their  natural  life 
a  religious  significance ;  and  thus  formed  a  wall  of  parti- 
tion which  kept  the  race  from  mingling  with  the  impurities 
of  heathenism.  Moreover,  the  fact  that  this  Law  was  laid 
down  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  gave  to  their  religious  con- 
sciousness a  support  that  was  altogether  wanting  to  the 
heathen  rehgions,  which  could  only  be  propagated  by 
loose  traditions  and  the  pubhc  services.  The  Law  and  the 
doctrine  were  so  impressed  on  the  minds  of  children  from 
their  earliest  years,  by  instruction  and  use,  that  an 
intelligent  adherence  to  the  God  and  the  religion  of  their 
fathers  was  produced,  which  seldom  permitted  a  Jew  to 
apostatize  from  his  faith  (II.  Timothy  iii.  15);  and  that 
which  was  begun  by  the  teaching  of  parents  and  the 
training  of  the  home,  was  completed  by  the  congregation 
in  the  synagogue.  Wherever  they  dwelt,  the  Jews  were 
accustomed  to  assemble  themselves,  on  the  Sabbath  day 
at  least,  in  the  synagogues,  which  were  their  schools  of 
religion,  for  common  prayer  and  mutual  edification  in  the 
reading  and  exposition  of  the  Sacred  Books ;  or,  where 
they  had  no  special  synagogue  buildings,  they  met  together 
in  some  place  where  "prayer  was  wont  to  be  made," 
tlie  locality  chosen  for  which  was,  where  possible,  by  a 
river  side.  These  meetings  served  especially  to  keep  alive 
the  religious  thought  and  feehng  of  the  people ;  and  not 
only  so,  but  they  became  the  centres  of  Jewish  society, 
the  means  by  which  the  general  life  of  the  community  was 
sustained,  and  by  which  also  the  Jews  of  the  dispersion 
were  closely  united  among  themselves  and  kept  separate 
from  the  heathen  society  around  them.  Another  means 
by  which  the  Judaism  of  the  dispersion  was  sustained, 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION. 


173 


and  the  scattered  communities  kept  together,  was  the 
constant  intercourse  with  Jerusalem,  which  we  have 
described  in  a  former  chapter.  Every  year  rich  offerings 
were  sent  to  the  Temple  of  the  One  God  by  chosen 
messengers ;  thither  the  people  went  who  had  business 
with  the  High  Priest,  or  the  Great  Council,  in  whose 
hands  was  the  highest  spiritual  jurisdiction  ;  from  thence 
the  Scribes  went  forth  into  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
thither,  on  the  other  hand,  resorted  those  among  the 
people  who  wished  to  devote  themselves  to  the  study  of 
the  Law.  From  Jerusalem  the  dates  for  the  sacred 
festivals  and  other  reckonings  for  the  calendar  were  sent 
out  to  the  Jewish  communities  everywhere ;  and  to  go 
up  to  Jerusalem  annually  on  the  great  feast  days,  or,  if  he 
lived  too  far  off  for  that,  to  have  made  a  pilgrimage  there 
once  or  more  in  his  lifetime,  was  held  by  every  Jew  to  be 
an  essential  part  of  true  religion.  Must  not  this  constant 
organic  connection  with  Jerusalem  have  been  a  bond  of 
union  for  all  the  Jewish  congregations  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and  especially  for  those  of  Alexandria  ? 

And  yet,  in  spite  of  their  tenacious  adhesion  to  their 
nationality,  the  Alexandrian  Jews  could  not  keep  them- 
selves entirely  free  from  a  certain  Hellenistic  influence. 
They  hved  in  the  midst  of  an  atmosphere  which  was  full 
of  Greek  culture,  Greek  modes  of  thought,  and  Greek 
forms  of  speech ;  and  it  was  impossible  that  they  should 
not  unconsciously  acquire  some  Greek  characteristics. 
They  were  constantly  brought  into  contact  with  Greeks 
in  the  ways  of  business ;  the  Greek  language  was  the 
common  means  of  communication  and  intercourse ;  all 
sorts  of  Greek  ideas  circulated,  as  if  spontaneously, 
among  the  Jews. 


174: 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


And  if  we  have  to  speak  of  the  rise  of  a  Jewish 
hterature  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  it  must  be  regarded  as  an 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  what  we  have  just  stated.  For  it 
was  not  written  in  Hebrew,  but  in  Greek,  and  entered 
more  and  more  into  connection  with  Hellenism.  The 
ground  work  of  it  was  formed  by  the  Greek  translation  of 
the  Old  Testament,  which  had  its  origin  in  Alexandria, 
the  Septuagint.  The  tradition  according  to  which — as 
Aristeas  writes  to  his  brother  Philocrates — the  High  Priest 
Eleazar  in  Jerusalem,  in  response  to  a  request  from  king 
Ptolemy  II.  (b.c.  283-247),  sent  seventy-two  Scribes  to 
Alexandria,  who,  in  seventy-two  days,  completed  a  transla- 
tion of  the  Law,  is  certainly  untenable.  The  probabiHty 
is  that  the  translation  was  begun  in  the  time  of  Ptolemy 
11.,^^^  with  a  view  to  the  wants  of  the  great  Jewish  popula- 
tion, and  that  it  went  on  gradually  and  was  not  finished 
till  about  B.C.  130.  The  fact  of  this  translation  having 
been  made,  becomes  in  the  highest  degree  important, 
when  we  consider  that  by  means  of  it  the  religious 
treasures  of  the  Old  Testament  were  made  accessible  to 
the  world.  The  Scriptures,  in  Greek,  were  read  and 
understood  by  the  educated  ;  the  Jewish  religion  became 
known,  and  thus  the  way  was  prepared  for  Christianity. 

Not  only  so,  but,  as  we  have  said,  the  Septuagint  was 
the  beginning  of  a  whole  literature  among  the  Jews  of 
Alexandria.  When  the  Hebrew  had  been  gradually 
forgotten  among  the  Israelites  of  the  dispersion,  the 
Greek  took  its  place  as  the  language  of  daily  life  and 
intercourse  ;  but  the  latter  did  not  always  afford  the  right 
expression  for  the  oriental  idea,  and  thus  the  Hellenistic 
idiom,  as  it  is  called,  was  formed,  which  renders  the 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION. 


175 


frequent  Hebrew  thoughts  in  Greek  words,  while,  on  the 
whole,  the  character  of  the  work  remains  Hebraic.  The 
books  of  the  New  Testament  show  this  peculiarity  as  well 
as  the  Septuagint  and  the  whole  Alexandrian  literature, 
the  works  of  Philo  and  Josephus  at  the  most  being 
relative  exceptions.  From  their  language,  the  Greek- 
speaking  Jews  were  called  "  Hellenists,"  in  contrast  with 
the  "  Hebrews,"  who  spoke  a  Hebraic  or  Aramaic  dialect 
(Acts  vi.  i). 

In  this  Hellenistic  idiom  are  written  those  apocryphal 
books  of  the  Old  Testament  which,  as  regards  their  con- 
tents, are  evidently  dependent  on  the  Biblical  canon,  and 
as  regards  their  style  on  the  Alexandrian  translation.  Sub- 
sequently authorship  became  more  independent,  and  we 
hear  of  Jewish  poets,  such  as  the  elder  Philo  and  others, 
of  whose  writings  nothing  has  come  down  to  us ;  and  of 
prose-writers  who  dealt  with  Jewish  history,  like  Demetrius, 
Eupolemus,  and,  especially,  Jason  of  Gyrene,  of  whose 
work  we  have  the  epitome  in  the  so-called  second  book 
of  Maccabees.  The  works  entitled  the  third  and  fourth 
books  of  Maccabees,  and  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  as  it 
is  termed,  belong  to  a  considerably  later  period. 

When  the  Jewish  people  of  the  dispersion  had  once 
adopted  the  Greek  language,  culture,  and  literary  style,  it 
was  inevitable  that  they  should  plunge  at  last  into  Greek 
erudition  and  philosophy.  The  intellectual  treasures  of 
the  world  of  Greek  culture  became  the  possessions  of  the 
educated  Hellenistic  Jews,  and  many  amongst  them  under- 
stood Homer  and  Plato  as  well  as  Moses  or  Solomon.  Thus 
arose  the  Jewish- Alexandrian  religious  philosophy,  as  it  is 
called,  whose  special  object  ultimately  was  to  accommo- 


17G 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


date  Hebrew  theology  and  Hellenistic  philosophy.  It 
began  with  the  conclusion  of  the  Septuagint  translation, 
and  was  most  in  vogue  at  the  time  of  Jesus  ;  thus,  at  the 
epoch  when  in  the  east  the  Jewish  national  vitality  was 
declining,  and  the  power  of  the  classical  spirit  had  already 
exhausted  itself;  when  the  decay  of  the  old  and  the  anti- 
cipation of  something  new  and  greater  were  both  at  their 
height ;  when,  moreover,  a  mingling  together  of  opposites 
in  a  confused  medley  of  thought  was  being  asserted  as  the 
truth  by  some,  and  when  the  hope  and  expectation  of 
many  was  being  directed  to  the  dawn  of  new  Hght  in  the 
east.  Although  it  may  be  assumed  that  there  were  Jews 
in  other  parts  of  the  world  who  were  educated  in  Greek 
learning  and  philosophy,  it  is  certain  that  the  chief  seat  of 
that  Jewish  philosophical  activity  of  which  we  speak  was 
Alexandria. 

Its  most  general  characteristic  is  the  opposition  of  the 
Divine  and  the  earthly,  of  the  spirit  and  the  flesh ;  a  con- 
ception of  God  as  the  unapproachable,  who  hides  Himself 
from  our  cognition  :  and  further,  the  acceptance  of  medi- 
ating powers  between  God  and  the  world  ;  and  the  con- 
tempt of  the  world  of  the  senses  as  ungodly,  from  which 
the  soul  must  be  hberated  as  from  a  prison-house.  The 
form  in  which  the  Divine  discovers  itself  to  the  human 
spirit  is  that  of  inspiration,  which  in  the  concrete  is  con- 
tained in  the  Books  of  Moses  and  the  prophets.  The  con- 
tents of  these  were  received  by  the  Sacred  Writers,  not  only 
in  their  spirit  and  meaning  but  in  the  letter,  in  a  holy 
ecstasy.  All  wisdom,  thought  the  Alexandrian  Jews,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  especially  in  the  Books  of 
r^Ioses,  and  indeed  all  the  Hellenic  wisdom  was,  according 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION. 


177 


to  their,  only  borrowed  from  the  Jewish  records,  or  else 
contained  therein.  The  literal  or  verbal  sense  was  certainly 
not  sufficient  to  prove  this,  and  thus  the  allegorical  method 
of  exposition  was  adopted,  chiefly  in  appHcation  to  the  Pen- 
tateuch. Not  the  external  and  obvious  sense,  but  the 
internal,  the  deeper  sense,  they  said,  is  that  on  which 
everything  depends  :  the  written  word  is  only  the  verbal 
form  in  which  a  higher  meaning  is  contained  ;  the  letter 
is  there  for  the  great  multitude ;  the  deeper  interpretation 
is  for  the  initiated. 

A  writer  named  Aristobulus  (about  B.C.  175)  sought  to 
prove  in  this  manner  that  the  Greek  poets  and  philosophers 
must  have  been  acquainted  with  the  teachings  of  Moses, 
and  had  borrowed  their  wisdom  from  an  ancient  translation 
of  the  Pentateuch.  But  the  principal  representative  of 
this  school  is  Philo  (born  about  B.C.  20,  died  at  70  years 
of  age).  He  was  a  man  of  good  family,  whose  brother 
had  been  ethnarch  of  Alexandria,  and  he  is  well  known 
to  have  been  the  leader  of  the  deputation  sent  by  the 
Jews  to  the  Emperor  Caligula  for  the  maintenance  of 
Jewish  interests. ^^'^  His  principal  work  relates  to  the 
Pentateuch  and  especially  to  the  first  twelve  chapters  of 
Genesis.  His  method  of  exposition  is  the  allegorical; 
and  thus  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise  are  to  him  the 
four  cardinal  virtues ;  Esau  is  the  type  of  sensuahty ; 
Abraham,  that  of  the  earnest  searching  mind ;  the 
country  in  which  Abraham  was  born  is  the  body  from 
which  the  seeking  thought  goes  out ;  the  Sabbath  rest  is 
the  pure  peace  of  the  soul ;  the  hand  of  God  represents 
His  power ;  the  standing  of  God  signifies  the  continuance 
and  constancy  of  the  order  of  the  world,  etc.    When  we 

N 


178 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


look  more  closely  at  the  substance  of  his  teaching,  we 

find   many  peculiarities  arising  from   the  mixture  of 

Jewish  theology  and  Greek  philosophy,  especially  that  of 

Plato.    He  reaches  the  conception  of  God  by  the  negative 

of  all  that  is  finite.    God  is  pure  Beings  the  Jehovah  or 

Jahveh,  to  whom  no  special  attributes  may  be  ascribed, 

lest  they  should  limit  Him,  since  He  is  higher  than  all. 

At  the  same  time  he  regards  God  as  a  positive  personal 

existence,  and  as  activity  itself.   As  the  fire  burns,  so  God 

works  unceasingly ;  He  cannot  be  imagined  as  in  a  state 

• 

of  repose.  The  perfect  antithesis  of  God  is  the  world,  that 
is,  matter,  or  the  finite ;  and  therefore  He,  the  Holy  and 
the  Pure,  can  hold  no  direct  intercourse  with  the  earth. 

Communication  between  God  and  the  world  is  estabhsh- 
ed,  according  to  Philo,  by  certain  intermediate  beings, 
who  are  partly  related  with  the  angels  of  Judaism,  partly 
with  the  Hdeas^  of  Plato.  God,  the  great  Abstraction,  acts 
through  these.  His  representatives,  His  vicegerents,  His 
messengers,  and  His  servants.  They  form,  as  it  were,  an 
effulgence  which  proceeds  from  God,  like  the  beams  of 
the  sun,  and  which  is  reflected  back  to  Him.  God  created 
the  spiritual  world,  the  world  of  ideas,  first ;  since  they  were 
to  be  the  prototypes  of  the  things  to  be  produced ;  at  the 
same  time  they  are  the  powers  which  encircle  God,  and 
are  for  ever  appearing ;  now  as  potencies,  inseparable  from 
God,  and  again  as  independent  personal  angehc  beings. 

The  concentration  and  comprehension  of  these  powers, 
of  these  ideas,  is  the  "Word"  or  the  "Logos";  he  is 
the  true  mediator  between  God  and  the  world,  and  holds 
a  place  on  the  confines  of  the  finite  and  the  infinite.  With 
Philo  he  appears  as  partly  impersonal,  that  is  as  the 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION. 


179 


Divine  Reason ;  partly  and  more  especially  as  an  in- 
dependent being,  proceeding  from  the  nature  of  the 
Godhead  through  the  Divine  speech.  Thus  the  Logos 
of  Philo  is  a  personification  of  God,  existing  in  personal 
disiinction  from  Him,  and  being  His  image,  representative, 
and  vicegerent,  who  performs  His  will  and  is  the  instrument 
by  whom  He  reveals  Himself  and  acts  upon  the  world. 
The  Logos,  or  Word,  thus  abides  on  the  one  hand  in  God 
as  the  plan  of  a  city  remains  in  the  mind  of  the  architect ; 
and  on  the  other  he  is  as  the  "  seal  of  God,'  which 
impresses  on  the  world  of  matter  the  stamp  of  intelligence. 
He  is  not  uncreated  like  God,  but  also  is  not  created  as  is 
the  creature.  The  Logos  is  the  first  born  Son  of  God ; 
the  world,  the  younger  son.  With  God  he  represents  the 
world  as  High  Priest,  Intercessor,  Mediator,  and  Paraclete; 
while  to  the  world  he  represents  God,  the  Inaccessible ; 
and  is  the  Melchisedec,  the  Rock  in  the  desert,  the 
Manna,  the  Messiah.  He  it  is  who  in  the  great  day  of 
deliverance  shall  gather  the  scattered  children  of  Israel 
together  and  lead  them  into  the  land  of  peace.  We  must 
not  forget  however  that  the  same  Logos  who  here  appears 
as  personal  is  in  other  places  represented  by  Philo,  in 
order  to  avoid  polytheism,  as  the  totality  of  the  Divine 
attributes. 

The  angels,  demons,  and  souls  are  to  Philo  only 
various  names  for  the  same  thing.  Their  number  is 
infinite.  A  division  of  them  descends  from  the  air  to  the 
earth  to  unite  themselves  with  mortal  bodies.  Many 
perish  in  sensuahty  :  others  make  earnest  endeavours 
after  the  higher  life.  The  virtuous  among  them,  after 
death,  go  to  the  heavenly  home  ;  the  vicious  perish  with 
the  destruction  of  their  bodies. 


180 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


In  relation  to  the  nature  of  man,  Philo  distinguishes  two 
original  types  :  the  transcendental  ideal  man,  who  is  her- 
maphrodite and  immortal,  created  in  the  image  of  God 
(compare  Genesis  i.  26,  27);  and  an  earthly,  sensuous, 
historical  man  (compare  Genesis  ii.  7),  formed  of  the  dust 
of  the  earth.  Even  the  earthly  visible  man  was  in  the 
beginning  perfect  in  body  and  soul,  but  because  he  was  a 
created  being  he  could  not  abide  in  his  perfection  ;  along 
with  the  woman  sin  entered  into  the  world.  And  because 
man  is  thus  constituted  of  a  body,  that  is,  of  matter, 
faulty  and  incomplete,  and  of  a  soul  which  is  Divine, 
every  man  finds  himself  in  a  constant  discord  between 
reason  and  the  animal  nature.  All  sensuousness,  how- 
ever, is  reprobate  and  sinful.  Looking  at  this  general 
sinfulness,  the  one  morahty  appears  to  Philo  as  the  extir- 
pation of  every  lust,  every  affection  and  sensuous  impulse. 
But  man  attains  to  this  virtue  not  by  his  own  moral  deed, 
but  through  God's  grace,  which  can  only  be  appropriated 
by  faith,  and  which  alone  makes  a  man  pious  and  right- 
eous. In  this  morality  Philo  assumes  three  stages  :  the 
practice  of  virtue  ,in  temperance  and  self-denial ;  the 
instruction  or  teaching ;  and  the  God-given  wisdom.  As, 
however,  God  is  not  perceptible,  man  can  only  attain  to 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  be  wrapt  into  His  joy  in  a 
miraculous  manner,  that  is,  through  ecstasy. 

In  the  Messianic  period,  the  expectation  of  which  Philo 
founds  upon  the  Pentateuch  (Leviticus  xxvi. ;  Numbers 
xxiv.  7;  Deuteronomy  xxviii. ;  ib.  xxx.  11-14),  the  Jews 
will,  according  to  him,  enter  into  the  land  destined  for 
them ;  the  golden  age  will  dawn  ;  the  earth  will  be  fruit- 
ful, and  mankind  pious  and  happy;  and  the  chosen 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION.  181 

people  will  at  last  draw  all  the  other  nations  to  themselves. 

Among  all  the  men  of  his  time,  the  Therapeutae,  a 
Jewish  community  widely  spread  in  Egypt,  were  such  as 
Philo  would  have  them  be  (that  is  if  we  may  take  the 
work  which  is  our  only  source  of  information  about  them, 
De  vita  contemplativa^^^  as  really  coming  from  him),^" 
because  they  abstained  as  much  as  possible  from  all  con- 
tact with  what  was  material  and  earthly,  and  devoted 
themselves  to  the  meditative  life.  Their  name  signifies, 
according  to  Philo,  '  soul-healers,'  and  thus  pure  worship- 
pers of  God.  Their  principal  seat  was  on  an  eminence 
near  Alexandria.  Their  chief  occupation  was  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  ascetic  Hfe,  and  of  a  mystical  absorption  in 
the  Divine.  Their  main  endeavour  was  to  evince  the 
utmost  abstemiousness.  Their  labour  was  limited  to  that 
which  was  absolutely  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of 
life. 

The  influence  of  Philo's  views  on  Christianity  was  cer- 
tainly not  direct.  The  Apostles  have,  as  regards  the 
substance  of  their  writings,  derived  nothing  from  Philo ; 
although  particular  expressions  and  designations  may  have 
been  derived  from  the  speech  of  the  Alexandrian  philoso- 
phy; such  as:  "The  Word"  (the  "Zt7^^j,"  John  i.  i) ; 
**The  Fulness  of  the  Godhead"  (Colossians  ii.  9)  ;  "The 
Image  of  the  Invisible  God"  (Colossians  i.  15);  and — 
"  The  Brightness  of  His  Glory,  the  express  Image  of  His 
Person "  (Hebrews  i.  3).  But  the  essential  element  of 
the  Christian  doctrine  is  absolutely  another  thing.  No 
trace  can  be  found  with  Philo  of  the  New  Testament 
doctrine  of  redemption  and  reconcihation.  The  Logos  of 
Philo  had  a  Hellenistic-philosophical  significance  ;  that  of 


182 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


the  New  Testament  bears  quite  a  different  character.  We 
may  however  regard  the  work  of  Philo  as  denoting  an 
inchnation  of  men's  minds  towards  Judaism  and  its  reli- 
gion, towards  the  fulness  of  Divine  revelation  resting 
therein,  and  towards  the  expected  Messiah  and  Saviour. 

The  city  of  Alexandria  became  famous  and  important 
through  Philo  and  the  Alexandrian  philosophy,  but  also 
through  the  life  and  activity  of  the  Jewish  community  in 
general  in^the  Egyptian  capital.  They  helped  to  preserve, 
for  Mosaism,  the  esteem  in  which  it  was  held,  and  to 
make  the  Gentiles  around  them  acquainted  with  it.  As, 
however,  the  Old  Testament  is  a  great  introduction  to  the 
New,  so  the  activity  of  the  Alexandrian  Jews  did  but  pre- 
pare the  way  for  the  Christian  religion,  of  which  the 
city  itself  afterwards  became  one  of  the  most  famous 
seats.  But  the  sun  of  prosperity  was  not  to  shine  always 
on  the  Jewish  community  in  Egypt.  Under  the  emperor 
Caligula  they  began  to  be  oppressed,  and  when,  in  the 
reign  of  Vespasian,  the  Egyptian  Jews  took  part  in  the 
insurrection  against  Rome,  the  celebrated  colony  came  to 
an  end.  The  Jewish  inhabitants  were  slain  or  banished, 
and  even  the  Temple  of  Onias  was  closed  in  the  year 
72  A.D. 

If  we  now  take  a  general  view  of  the  condition  of  the 
Jews  in  the  Roman  Empire,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that 
in  the  beginning  they  had  not  much  to  complain  of  under 
the  ascendancy  of  the  Pagans.  It  was,  indeed,  an  old 
principle  of  Roman  law,  that  at  Rome  only  Roman 
deities  should  be  worshipped  ;  but  as  the  Empire  grew, 
and  the  privilege  of  Roman  citizenship  was  more  generally 
distributed,  the  strict  maintenance  of  the  religio-dvil  order 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION. 


18a 


of  ancient  Rome  became  ever  more  difficult ;  and  soon  the 
free  practice  of  their  rehgion  was  granted  to  the  Jews  at 
Rome,  and  thus  their  spread  was  promoted.^^^  While  the 
Jews  of  the  further  east,  and  those  of  Egypt,  showed 
themselves  brave  warriors,  those  in  Greece,  Asia  Minor, 
and  Syria  sought,  on  religious  grounds,  for  freedom  from 
military  service,  and  obtained  it ;  the  Roman  government, 
in  the  time  of  Julius  Caesar  and  Octavius,  plainly  attached 
more  importance  to  their  weighty  contributions  to  the 
State  treasury  than  to  their  military  services.  ]\Iany  other 
favours  were  also  granted  to  the  Jews  ;  the  transmission 
of  the  offerings  and  dues  to  the  Temple  was  permitted  ; 
they  could  not  be  summoned  before  the  tribunals  on  a 
Sabbath  day ;  they  received  their  share  in  the  distribution 
of  public  stores ;  and  if  it  took  place  on  a  Sabbath  day. 
their  portion  was  dehvered  to  them  on  some  other  day. 

Nevertheless,  the  Jews  were  not  everywhere  liked  by 
the  Gentiles.  Many  of  the  latter,  it  is  true,  were  filled 
with  admiration  and  sympathy  for  Judaism,  with  its 
spiritual  worship  of  one  God,  the  unity  and  mutual  help- 
fulness of  its  adherents  among  themselves,  and  its  moral 
earnestness.  On  the  other  hand  the  Jews  were  often 
scoffed  at  for  their  singularities.  The  sign  of  their 
covenant,  circumcision,  was  laughed  to  scorn ;  their 
abstinence  from  swine's  flesh,  their  strict  Sabbatarianism, 
their  religion  without  images  and  pictures,  was  regarded 
as  a  barbarous  superstition  ;  and  their  customs  were  called 
absurd  and  mean.^^"  On  account  of  their  refusal  to  par- 
ticipate in  heathen  pleasures,  such  as  those  of  the  table 
or  the  theatre,  they  were  reproached  with  misanthropy 
and  contempt  of  the  world,  and  stigmatized  as  a  dismal 
and  detestable  people. 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


Thus  it  is  easy  to  understand  the  behaviour  towards 
Judaism  of  a  series  of  heathen  writers,  of  whom  only  the 
names  of  a  Hecataeus  of  Abdera,  a  Manetho,  an  Apol- 
lonius  Molo  of  Rhodes,  a  Cicero,  and  an  Apion  need  be 
mentioned.  One  of  Cicero's  orations,  which  are  yet  pre- 
served, was  dehvered  in  defence  of  Flaccus,  who  was  well 
known  as  an  enemy  of  the  Jews ;  and  Apion  accused 
the  Jews  of  various  laughable  absurdities  on  the 
one  hand,  and  much  that  was  execrable  on  the  other, 
and  by  his  words  did  a  great  deal  to  nourish  hatred 
and  scorn  against  them  on  the  part  of  the  Gentiles.  In 
opposition  to  him,  Josephus  defended  them  with  great 
energy  in  his  apologetic  work  "  Contra  Apion  and  Philo 
also  in  most  of  his  writings  pleads  their  cause  against  the 
heathen,  laying  stress  especially  on  the  spirit  of  goodness 
in  the  Mosaic  Law,  and  bringing  out  the  morality  and 
genuineness  of  the  Pentateuch. 

If,  however,  the  Jews  were  offensive  to  the  heathens, 
the  latter  were  not  less  so  to  the  Jews,  on  account  of  their 
idols  and  their  idolatrous  reverence  of  the  emperor,  their 
superstition,  and  their  immoral  practices.  The  Jews  con- 
sciously exhibited  the  superiority  of  their  rehgion  in 
contrast  with  heathenism  ;  indeed  the  more  earnest  and 
zealous  among  them  became  preachers  of  repentance 
among  the  Gentiles,  exhorting  them  to  a  change  of  Hfe 
and  a  purer  faith.  And  many  souls,  conscious  of  religious 
needs,  and  longing  for  truth,  moral  power,  peace  of 
conscience,  and  for  some  disclosure  of  destiny  on  the 
other  side  of  the  grave,  became,  in  spite  of  many 
difficulties,  proselytes  to  Judaism.  Unmistakably  it  was 
the  great  mission  of  the  Israelitish  people  to  proclaim  to 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION. 


185 


the  world  the  true  faith  in  God,  and  to  draw  men  to  it. 
The  principal  centres  of  Jewish  population  in  the  great 
dispersion  were  mission  stations  for  monotheism,  and 
served  at  the  same  time  to  prepare  the  way  for  Christianity. 

The  godly  Jews,  especially  those  of  the  time  of  Caesar 
and  Augustus,  believed  it  to  be  well  pleasing  to  God,  out 
of  zeal  for  the  Law  to  win  over  Gentiles  to  their  religious 
fellowship.  It  is  said  of  the  Scribes  that  they  "  compassed 
sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte  "  (Matthew  xxiii.  1 5) ; 
and  Josephus,^^^  Horace,^^^  Seneca, and  others  testify 
to  the  zeal  of  the  Jews  in  making  conversions  in  the 
Roman  Empire.  Women  especially  readily  turned  to 
Judaism  (Acts  xiii  50,  xvii.  4);^^^  but  many  men  also 
were  converted,  some  of  whom  were  of  high  rank,  such 
as  the  chamberlain  of  queen  Candace  (Acts  viii.  27), 
and  king  Izates  of  Adiabene,  with  his  entire  family."* 

Gentiles  thus  won  over  to  Judaism  were  called  Prose- 
lytes (Matthew  xxiii.  15).  The  majority  of  them  were 
attached  to  the  Jewish  communities  of  the  dispersion ;  the 
extent  of  the  propaganda  in  Palestine  must  therefore  have 
been  more  limited,  although  the  Jewish  element  there 
greatly  preponderated.  Here  it  must  be  pointed  out  that 
the  old  distinction  between  '  Proselytes  of  the  Gate '  and 
*  Proselytes  of  Righteousness,'  according  to  which  the 
former  were  Gentiles  converted  to  Judaism,  who  did  not 
observe  all  the  obligations  of  the  Law,  and  who  especially 
did  not  submit  to  circumcision,  and  the  latter  were  those 
who  had  entered  into  full  communion  with  the  Jewish 
fellowship  and  had  fulfilled  all  righteousness,  cannot  be 
regarded  as  appropriate.^'^  For  the  '  Proselytes  of  the 
Gate '  (novices,  strangers ;  Hebrew,  germ  haschaar)  were 


186 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


only  those  "foreigners  who  dwelt  within  the  gates  of 
Israel  without  having  come  over  to  the  religion  of  Israel " 
(Exodus  XX.  lo;  Deuteronomy  xiv.  21).  The  conditions 
required  of  them  were  principally  the  observance  of  the 
so-called  seven  precepts  of  Noah ;  that  they  should  avoid 
blasphemy,  idolatry,  murder,  incest,  pillage,  rebellion,  and 
partaking  of  blood  (compare  Leviticus  iii.  17,  Acts 
XV.  20  etc.). 

This  regulation  however  had  in  the  days  of  Jesus  but 
little  practical  importance,  for  the  Greeks  and  Romans, 
living  in  Palestine  under  Roman  protection,  seldom  or 
never  were  entirely  bound  by  it.  But  as  the  '  Proselytes 
of  the  Gate '  cannot  be  strictly  considered  as  belonging  to 
Judaism,  it  follows  that  the  "religious  proselytes,"  or 
"devout  persons"  (Acts  xiii.  43  and  50  ;  xvii.  4  and  17  ; 
xviii.  7),  must  not  be  confounded  with  them,  since  these 
latter,  although  in  a  general  sense  they  were  called 
"proselytes"  or  "devout  alhes  of  the  Jews"  (Matthew 
xxiii.  15;  Acts  xiii.  43),  had  actually  made  profession  of 
the  faith  of  Israel. 

When  such  Gentile  converts  wished  to  enter  into  fellow- 
ship with  the  Jews  three  things  above  all  were  demanded  of 
them — if  they  were  men — circumcision,  baptism,  and  the 
offering  of  a  sacrifice ;  if  they  were  women,  of  course  the 
two  last  only  were  required.  Circumcision  and  sacrifice 
need  no  explanation ;  but  by  baptism  must  be  understood 
the  complete  immersion  of  the  converts,  the  object  of 
which  was  the  symbolical  purification  of  those  who  had 
come  out  of  a  heathenism,  which  was  held  to  be  entirely 
unclean.  If,  especially  in  the  time  of  Jesus,  the  Jews 
themselves  who  were  zealous  for  the  Law  were  bound  by 


THE  JEWS  IN  THE  DISPERSION. 


187 


its  standing  rules  frequently  to  immerse  themselves  in 
water  as  a  symbol  of  purification,  it  appeared  above  all 
things  necessary  for  one  who  had  been  born  a  heathen, 
that  he  should,  at  his  entrance  into  Judaism,  submit  to  a 
similar  symbolical  bathing. 

Of  those  who  had  been  thus  baptised  and  admitted 
into  the  Hebrew  church,  or  ''Proselytes  of  Righteousness" 
as  they  were  called,  the  complete  fulfilment  of  the  Mosaic 
Law  was  in  principle  demanded,  and  everyone  so  received 
laid  himself  under  an  obligation  to  keep  the  whole  Law. 
In  practice  however,  the  case  was  different,  and  it  is 
scarcely  conceivable  that  the  full  rigour  of  Pharisaic 
observance  of  the  Law  could  be  carried  out  in  the  dis- 
persion. Rather,  people  held  to  the  cardinal  points,  and 
satisfied  themselves  with  what  was  attainable ;  and 
Josephus  seems  to  point  to  that  conclusion  when  he  boasts 
that  "  in  almost  all  places  and  among  all  peoples  Jewish 
worship  of  God  was  to  be  found;  and  that  fasting, 
Sabbath  observance,  the  hghting  of  candles,  and  many  of 
the  laws  about  eating  and  drinking,  were  observed.'"^"'  It 
is  quite  in  accordance  with  probability  to  think  that  among 
the  thousands  of  Proselytes  not  every  minute  observance 
of  the  rules  was  punctiliously  fulfilled,  but  that  some  kept 
the  precepts  more,  and  others  less  strictly. 

Some  of  the  Proselytes  were  perhaps  attracted  by  the 
advantage  of  living  among  the  quiet  substantial  Jews,  or 
by  the  immunity  from  military  service ;  others  were  moved 
by  curiosity  and  the  love  of  change  and  novelty  to  join 
themselves  to  Judaism ;  but  most  were  certainly  led  by  their 
consciousness  of  the  errors  and  defects  of  heathen 
worship,  by  the  longing  for  rest  in  their  souls  which 


188' 


IN  THE  TIME  OF  JESUS. 


thirsted  for  the  true  God,  and  the  want  of  a  firm  moral 
support  for  their  Uves,  to  seek  fellowship  in  the  Mosaic 
religion.  They  said  to  themselves  that  therein  they 
should  find,  through  the  belief  in  one  hving  and  every- 
where present  God,  a  peace  and  satisfaction  which  had 
never  come  to  them  in  the  worship  of  gods  made  by 
themselves  in  their  own  image  (Romans  i.  23) ;  there,  in 
mind  and  soul,  they  would  be  able  to  rise  above  the  level 
of  commonplace  and  sinful  life;  there  they  could  find 
rthe  precepts  of  a  true  morality,  which  was  wanting  in 
heathenism;  there,  too,  they  would  be  consoled  and 
comforted  with  the  hope  of  the  help  and  blessing  of  God 
at  all  times  and  in  all  places. 

The  same  influences  which  in  this  way  led  Proselytes  to 
Judaism  also  prepared  the  heathen  world  for  the  reception 
of  Christianity.  The  "  fulness  of  the  time  "  was  near. 
In  the  sphere  of  religion  people  hoped  for  help  and 
healing  neither  from  Roman  politics  nor  from  Greek 
wisdom.  Judaism  in  the  great  dispersion  had  fulfilled 
its  mission  in  directing  man's  gaze  to  the  east,  where  the 
Light  of  the  World  appeared  in  Him  who  is  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  Law,  of  the  great  promises  of  God,  and  the 
highest  hopes  of  men. 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

NOTES. 

1  Tacitus  (Annals  xv.  44)  writing  of  the  time  of  Nero,  speaks  of 
the  hated  people  who  were  called  Christians,  and  who  were 
persecuted  by  the  emperor.  He  calls  Christianity  a  "per- 
nicious superstition,"  and  says  that "  the  author  of  this  name 
was  Christ,  who  in  the  reign  of  Tiberius  was  brought  to 
punishment  by  Pontius  Pilate  the  procurator." 

2  Suetonius  (Claudius,  c.  25)  says  of  the  emperor  Claudius  : 
*'  He  banished  the  Jews  from  Rome,  who  at  the  instigation  of 
*'Chrestus"  were  always  raising  tumults."  There  is  no 
doubt  that  in  this  passage  "  Chrestus  '*  stands  for  *'  Christus," 
and  that  Suetonius  refers  not  to  the  personal  presence  of  Christ 
in  Rome  but  to  a  supposed  seditious  tendency  among  his  fol- 
lowers, imparted  by  him. 

3  Pliny  the  Younger  (Epistle  x.  97),  as  proconsul  of  Bithynia 
and  Pontus,  writing  to  Trajan,  asks  for  directions  as  to  how 
he  shall  proceed  against  the  Christians,  and  says :  "I  dis- 
covered no  more  than  that  they  were  addicted  to  an  odious 
and  extravagant  superstition."  He  further  says  that  "they 
called  themselves  Christians,  and  were  wont  to  meet  together 
on  a  stated  day  before  it  was  light  to  sing  a  hymn  to  Christ  as 
to  a  god  ;  and  to  bind  themselves  by  a  sacrament  (or  oath)  not 
to  do  anything  that  was  eviL  " 

Other  Pagan  writers  also  refer  to  the  Christian  religion, 
such  as  Celsus,  Porphyry,  Lucian,  Hierocles,  and  others. 

4  Philo  was  born  about  B.  C.  20.  There  were  two  occasions  on 
which  he  might  have  spoken  of  Jesus  :  in  his  description  of 
Essenism,  and  when  writing  of  the  character  of  Pontius 
Pilate. 


ii 


APPENDIX. 


5  Josephus  was  born  A.  D.  37. 

6  This  famous  passage  (Antiquities  XVIII.  iii.{3)  reads  as  fol- 
lows :  *' About  this  time  lived  Jesus,  a  wise  man  [if  it  be 
lawful  to  call  him  a  man,  for  he  was]  a  doer  of  wonderful 
works  [and  a  teacher  of  those  who  received  the  truth  with 
pleasure].  He  drew  over  to  his  side  many  of  the  Jews  and 
many  of  the  Gentiles.  [This  was  the  Christ]  whom  Pilate, 
upon  the  accusation  of  the  principal  men  among  us,  con- 
demned to  the  cross,  when  however  those  that  loved  him  at 
the  first  did  not  forsake  him.  [For  he  appeared  to  them  alive 
again  the  third  day,  as  the  Divine  prophets  had  foretold,  along 
with  ten  thousand  other  wonderful  things  concerning  him]. 
The  party  of  the  Christians,  so  called  after  him,  are  not  extinct 
at  this  day. " 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  said  for  and  against  the 
authenticity  of  this  passage,  there  is  little  doubt  that  the  basis 
of  it,  at  least,  is  the  genuine  writing  of  Josephus  ;  although 
it  is  true  that  it  cannot  be  regarded  word  for  word  as  coming 
from  him,  since  only  a  Christian  could  have  written  in  such 
terms.  The  passage  may  well  have  been  revised  by  a  Christian 
hand,  and  the  parts  bracketed  inserted  for  the  sake  of 
completeness.  The,  at  least  relative,  genuineness  of  it  is 
confirmed  by  another  passage  from  Josephus  (Antiquities 
XX.  ix.  l)iwhere  he  speaks  of  Christ  as  a  person  well-known 
to  his  readers. 

7  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  iii.  3. 

S  Compare  Schuerer  in  his  "  History  of  New  Testament  Times," 
page  262  ;  and  Riehm,  Bible  Dictionary,  under  *'  Cyrenius." 
In  order  to  solve  the  difficulty  many  would  translate  Luke 
ii.  2  :  "  And  this  taxing  was  first  made  when  Cyrenius  was 
governor  of  Syria"  as  "This  taxing  took  place  before  {prote) 
Quirinus  (Cyrenius)  was  governor  of  Syria."  Others  ta  ke 
the  word  rendered  "was  made"  {egeneto)  as  meaning  "took 
efifect"  or  "was  carried  out;"  so  that  the  decree  for  the 
'  taxing '  was  issued  at  the  time  when  Jesus  was  born,  but  it 
was  not  actually  made  until  Cyrenius  was  governor.  Others 


NOTES. 


iii 


again  think  that  egeneto  is  equivalent  to  "  was  completed." 
For  reasons  against  these  readings,  see  the  authors  cited.  If 
a  *  taxing '  when  Jesus  was  born,  that  is  in  the  latter  part  of 
Herod's  time,  was  intended,  it  could  not,  according  to 
Schuerer's  exhaustive  treatment  of  the  subject,  have  been  a 
general  Roman  one  under  Cyrenius,  but  a  local  one  ;  and 
thus  the  probability  would  be  that  St.  Luke  was  in  error 
in  speaking  of  the  general  '  taxing  '  as  having  taken  place  in 
the  time  of  Herod. 

[One  or  two  additional  notes  seem  to  me  to  be  required 
here.  The  difficulty  is  briefly  this  :  that  history  knows 
nothing — apart  from  St.  Luke — of  any  such  general  taxing 
or  census  at  the  time  when  Jesus  was  born  ;  and  that 
there  is  evidence  that  an  enrolment  was  carried  out 
about  A.D.  6,  when  Cyrenius  was  governor  in  Syria.  But 
(1)  Argumenta  e  silentio  are  not  regarded  as  of  much  import- 
ance by  those  who  are  competent  to  judge  of  snch  ques- 
tions. The  accuracy  of  any  ancient  writer  might  be  im- 
pugned on  such  grounds  with  regard  to  almost  every  state- 
ment he  makes.  (2)  Where  St.  Luke  is  contradicted  by  other 
writers,  it  is  but  fair  to  remember  that  he  is  generally 
regarded  as  an  accurate  and  careful  historian  ;  and  in  some 
instances,  similar  to  that  referred  to  above,  deeper  research 
has  shown  him  to  be  right,  and  his  critics  wrong.  (3)  The 
supposition  that  Luke  only  meant  that  the  taxing,  or  census, 
was  completed  at  the  time  when  Cyrenius  was  governor  is 
part  of  a  learned  argument  by  Zumpt,  in  his  "  Geburtsjahr 
ChristC  His  theory  is,  that  Cyrenius  was  governor  of  Syria 
at  two  different  periods  ;  and  that  the  census  which  had 
been  ordered  by  his  predecessor  Varus  was  begun  by  him  in 
the  first  period,  about  B.C.  4,  and  completed  in  the  second, 
A.D.  6.  His  arguments  are  epitomized  in  Canon  Farrar's 
notes  on  Luke  ii.  1  in  the  "  Cambridge  Bible  for  Schools," 
and  in  his  "  Life  of  Christ,"  with  some  able  remarks  showing 
theirextrerae  probability. — Tr.] 
9    Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  i.  1  and  il  2. 


iv 


APPENDIX. 


10  Compare  Wieseler,  Chronological  Synopsis,  page  67  ;  and 
Winer,  Biblical  Dictionary,  under  "Jesus"  and  "Star  of 
the  Magi." 

11  See  Wieseler  as  above 

12  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVII.  vi.  4. 

13  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVII.  ix.  3 ;  ^Yars  of  the  Jews,  II. 
i.  3. 

14  Suetonius,  Tiberius,  XXI. 

15  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XV.  xi.  1,' 

16  Compare  Luke  L  5. 

17  I.  Chronicles  xxiv.  10. 

18  Mishna  Taanith,  IV.  6.  Josephus  ("Wars  VI.  iv.  5)  gives 
the  10th  of  Ab  as  the  date  of  the  burning  of  the  Temple. 
Compare  Schuerer,  "  History  of  New  Testament  Times," 
page  345. 

19  From  the  saying  of  the  Jews  in  John  viii.  57  :  "Thou  art 
not  yet  fifty  years  old,  and  hast  thou  seen  Abraham  ? "  to 
assume  that  Jesus  was  then  about  forty-nine  years  old,  and 
from  that  to  infer  the  date  of  his  birth  and  the  length  of  his 
life,  would  not  be  safe  reasoning. 

20  Schneckenburger,  "History  of  New  Testament  Times," 
page  12. 

21  In  his    PanathenaiJcos,"  page  294. 

22  Natural  History. 

23  For  this  reason  Baal  sometimes  appears  as  feminine,  as  in 
Hosea  ii.  6-8,  Zephaniah  i.  4,  Compare  Riehm,  Bible 
Dictionary,  under  "Astarte." 

24  Suetonius,  Vespasian,  XXIII. 

25  Epistles,  I.  18. 

26  Epistles,  XXXI.  and  XLI. 

27  De  Ira,  III.  15. 

28  De  Ira. 

29  De  Ira. 

30  Vespasian,  IV. 

31  History,  V.  13. 

32  Eclogue  IV.  Schuerer  ( "  Historj'  of  New  Testament  Times," 


NOTES. 


V 


page  576),  is  quite  of  the  opinion  that  Virgil  and  Tacitus 
got  the  idea,  directly  or  indirectly,  from  Josephus  (Wars 
VL  V.  4). 

33  Satire  XIIL  26. 

34  Ode  III.  6. 

35  De  Ira,  II.  8. 

36  History,  introduction. 

37  Juvenal,  Satire  VI.  226.  * 

38  Natural  History. 

39  Ode  III.  6. 

40  Ger mania,  c.  19. 

41  De  Beneficiis,  I.  ix. 

42  Compare  Tacitus,  Annals,  II.  85. 

43  Apology,  XV. 

44  De  Beneficiis,  VII.  10. 

45  Trinummus,  II.  2. 

46  Josephus,  Wars,  III.  iii.  2.  Tacitus,  History,  V.  6.  Com- 
pare Matthew  xiii.  23. 

47  Compare  Josephus,  Wars,  III,  iii.  2. 

48  Compare  pages  56,  62. 

49  Ezra  i.  5,  x.  9 ;  Nehemiah  xi.  4.  Compare  Josephus, 
Antiquities,  XI.  v.  2. 

50  Ezra  vi.  21.    Compare  Schuerer,  page  372. 

51  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  iii.  1. 

52  Compare  page  75. 

53  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XV.  xi.  Wars,  V.  v. 

54  Compare  Winer,  *' Richthaus." 

55  Josephus,  Wars,  VI.  ix.  iii.  II  xiv.  3. 

56  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XI.  viii.  4. 
67  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XX.  vi,  1. 

58  Josephus,  Wars,  III.  iii.  2. 

59  Josephus,  ib. 

60  The  surname  ^laccabeus,  plural  Maccabi,  signifies  ''ham- 
mer," and  may  have  been  a  name  of  honour  given  to  Judas, 
after  whom  the  family  were  called  the  "  Maccabees."  Less 
probable  is  the  supposition  that  the  name  was  formed  from 


vi 


APPENDIX. 


the  initial  letters  of  the  motto  inscribed  on  their  standard  : 
"  Mi  Kamoka  Baelim  Jehovah,"  that  is,  *'  Who  is  like  unto 
Thee  among  the  gods,  O  Lord  ?  "  (Exodus  xv.  11). 

61  Pompey  carried  other  Jews  to  Rome  with  him  besides  Aris- 
tobulus,  and  these  formed  the  nucleus  of  the  Je^^dsh  com- 
munity in  Rome 

62  Compare  page  57. 

63  The  statement  in  Matthew  ii.  22,  only  signifies  that  Arche- 
laus  ruled  as  ethnarch. 

64  Compare  Joseplius,  Antiquities,  XYIL  xi.  4. 

65  Joseplius,  Wars,  II.  viii.  1. 

66  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  iii.  1. 

67  Compare  pages  57,  58. 

68  Compare  Joseplius,  Antiquities,  XYIII.  ii.  2. 

69  Compare  pages  6,  134. 

70  Compare  Luke  vi.  15  ;  Acts  i.  13.  ;  and  page  134. 

71  Josephus,  Wars,  IV.  iii.  9. 

72  Leg.  ad  Caium,  XXXVIII. 

73  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  iii.  1. 

74  Philo,  Leg.  ad  Caium,  XXXVIIL 

75  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  iv.  ii. 

76  Son  of  Herod  the  Great  and  the  second  Mariamne. 

77  Herod  Philip  the  Tetrarch  was  thus  son-in-law  to  Herodias. 

78  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIV.  xv.  10. 

79  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  v.  1.  Compare  II.  Corinth- 
ians xi.  32. 

80  Compare  page  23. 

81  Josephus,  Wars,  VI.  iv.  5. 

82  Wars,  II.  xx.  5. 

83  Josephus,  Life,  12  ;  Antiquities,  XII.  iii.  3. 

84  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIV.  ix.  4. 

85  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  i.  4. 

86  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XX.  x.  ;  IV.  viii.  14. 

87  Compare  Schuerer,  page  411. 

88  Compare  Schuerer,  page  416. 

89  Schuerer,  page  414. 


NOTES. 


vii 


90  Compare  Schuerer,  page  415. 

91  Winer,  under  "  Synedrium. " 

92  Schuerer,  pages  420,  421. 

93  See  the  list  given  by  Schuerer,  page  418. 

94  Contra  Apion,  I.  7,  8.  In  this  enumeration  he  includes 
Ruth  with  Judges  as  one  book.  Lamentations  with  Jere- 
miah, and  Ezra  with  Nehemiah.  He  also  counts  the  twelve 
minor  prophets  as  one  book.  So  Hieronymus,  Praef.  Reg.  ; 
and  Origen,  see  Eusebius,  Hist.  Eccl.  VI.  25. 

95  Compare  Winer,  under  "  Rabbi"  :— "  Major  est  Rahhi  quam 
Rah,  et  major  est  Rabhan  quam  Rabbi." 

96  Compare  Delitzsch,  "jArtizan  Life,"  page  75. 

97  Delitzsch,  "Jesus  and  Hillel,"  page  11. 

98  Schuerer,  page  460. 

99  Delitzsch,     Jesus  and  Hillel." 

100  Winer,  under  "  Temple." 

101  Compare  page  96. 

102  On  the  first  day  of  the  week  the  proper  psalm  was  the 
24th,  on  the  second  the  48th,  on  the  third  the  82nd,  on  the 
fourth  the  94th,  on  the  fifth  the  81st,  on  the  sixth  the  93rd, 
and  on  the  Sabbath  92nd. 

103  This  was  probably  the  origin  of  the  systematic  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  in  Christian  churches. 

104  Contra  Apion,  I.  12. 

105  Philo,  Leg.  ad  Caium, 

106  Gfroerer,  "  The  Century  of  Salvation,"  1.  87. 

107  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIII.  x.  5,  6. 

108  Joseplms,  Antiquities,  XVII.  ii.  4. 

109  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIIL  i.  4. 

110  Joseplms,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  i.  3  and  XIII.  v.  9. 

111  Josephus,  Wars,  II.  viii.  14. 

112  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIII.  x.  6. 

113  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XV'II.  ii.  4. 

114  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  i.  4. 

115  Compare  page  84. 

116  Compare  Winer,  under  "Zadok." 


viii 


APPENDIX. 


117  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XX.  ix.  1  ;  compare  Acts  v.  17. 

118  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIII.  x.  6  and  XVIII.  i.  4. 

119  Schneckenburger,  page  144. 

120  Josephus,  Contra  Apion,  I.  8,  and  Antiquities,  XIII  x.  6.^ 

121  Josephus,  ib. 

122  Josephus,  Wars,  II.  viii.  14. 

123  So  called  by  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIII.  v.  9,  XVIII.  i  5. 

124  So  called  by  Philo,  Quod  omnis  proh.  lib. 

125  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIII.  v.  9. 

126  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIII.  xi.  2. 

127  Philo,  Be  vita  contemplativa. 

128  Compare  Zeller,  Theological  Yearbook,  1856 ;  and 
Schuerer,  "History  of  New  Testament  Times,"  page  601, 
et  seq. 

129  Lucius,  "  Theraputse  and  their  place  in  the  history  of  asceti- 
cism," 1879.    Compare  Journal  of  Theological  Literature,, 
No.  5,  1880. 

130  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  i.  5. 

131  Pliny,  Natural  History,  V.  17. 

132  "  History  of  Jesus,"  page  83. 

133  Josephus,  Antiquities,  X.  x.  and  xi. 

134  Schuerer,  page  479. 

135  De  exsecrationihus,  and  De  praemiis  et  poenis. 

136  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  iii.  3. 

137  Josephus,  Wars,  VI.  v.  4. 

138  Ib. 

139  History,  V.  13. 

140  Vespasian,  IV. 

141  Eclogue  IV.    Compare  page  31. 

142  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIV.  vii.  2. 

143  Leg.  ad  Caium,  XXXI. 

144  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  ix.  1 

145  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XX.  ii.  3. 

146  Josephus,  Wars,  VII.  iii.  3. 

147  Josephus,  Wars,  II.  xx.  2. 

148  Josephus,  Wars,  VII.  iii.  3. 


NOTES. 


ix 


149  Philo,  Leg.  ad  Caium,  XXXI. 

150  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XII.  iii.  4. 

151  Philo,  Ler/.  ad  Caium,  XXXVI. 

152  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVII.  xi.  1. 

153  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XVIII.  iii.  5. 

154  Suetonius,  Claudius,  XXV. 

155  Josephus,  Contra  Apion,  II.  4. 

156  Contra  Flaccum,  VI. 

157  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIX.  v.  2. 

158  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XII.  i. 

159  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XIV.  vii.  2. 

160  Philo,  Contra  Flaccum,  X. 

161  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XII.  ix.  7.  XIII.  iii.  3. 

162  History  of  Ncav  Testament  Times,"  page  99. 

163  Philo,  Vita  3Iosis,  II.  5,  6.    Josephus,  Antiquities,  XII. 
ii.  1. 

164  Cicero,  Pro  Flacco  ;  Philo,  Leg.  ad  Caium,  XLIV. 

165  Compare  page  142. 

166  Compare  page  24. 

167  Tacitus,  History,  V.  5. 

168  Contra  Apion,  II.  29. 

169  Horace,  Sat.  I.  4. 

170  See  Augustine,  Ve  civitate  Dei,  VI.  11 

171  Josephus,  Wars,  II.  xx.  2. 

172  Josephus,  Antiquities,  XX.  ii.  3. 

173  Compare  article  on  Proselytes  hy  Schuerer  in  Riehm's  Bible 
Dictionary. 

174  Contra  Apion,  II.  40. 


11. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE. 

B.C. 

323.    Death  of  Alexander  the  Great. 

323.    Conquest  of  Jerusalem  by  Ptolemy  L    A  colony  of  Jews 

removed  into  Egypt. 
320—203.    Rule  of  the  Ptolemies  over  Palestine, 
280.    Commencement  of  the  Alexandrian  translation  (LXX) 

under  Ptolemy  TI. 
203.    Antiochus  III.  (the  Great),  king  of  Syria  from  223  to  187, 

takes  possession  of  Palestine. 
187.    Death  of  Antiochus  III. 

187 — 175.    Seleucus  IV.  (Philopator),  king  of  Syria. 

175 — 164.    Antiochus  TV.  (Epiphanes),  king  of  Syria. 

167.    Rebellion  of  the  Jews  under  the  Maccabees  (Asmoneans) 

against  the  Syrians. 
166.    Death  of  Mattathias  Maccabeus. 

160.    Death  of  Judas  Maccabeus.    Onias  in  Egypt.    The  temple 

at  Leontopolis  built. 
160 — 143.    Jonathan  Maccabeus. 
143 — 135.    Simon  Maccabeus. 

140.    The  last-named  becomes  hereditary  High  Priest  and  Prince 

of  Palestine. 
135 — 105.    John  Hyrcanus  I. 

129.    Destruction  of  the  temple  on  Mount  Gerizim  by  John 

Hyrcanus. 
105—104.    Aristobulus  I. 
104 — 78.    Alexander  Jannreus. 

78 — 69.    Alexandra,  queen.    Pharisaism  in  its  prime. 
69—63.    Aristobulus  II.    Fratricidal  war  between  him  and 
Hyrcanus  II. 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  xi 

B.C. 

63.    Pompey  comes  to  Jerusalem.    AristoLulus  taken  prisoner. 
63—40.    Hyrcanus  II.,  High  Priest  and  Prince,  without  the 
title  of  king.    Rise  of  the  Idumean  Antipater  and  his 
sons  Phasael  and  Herod. 
61.    Pompey's  triumphant  return  to  Rome  with  Aristclulus  and 
other  Jews  as  prisoners.    Beginning  of  a  Jewish  colony 
in  Rome. 

59.    Cicero's  oration  against  the  Jews  [Pro  Flacco). 

49.    Aristohulus  IL  died.    War  between  Pompey  and  Cjsesar. 

48.    Battle  of  Pharsalia.    Csesar  victorious.     Hyrcanus  and 

Antipater  take  Caesar's  side. 
47.    Antipater  made  by  Csesar  procurator  of  Judaea  ;  Hyrcanus, 

High  Priest  and  ethnarch  of  the  Jews.    Phasael  made 

governor  of  Judsea,  and  Herod  governor  of  Galilee. 
44.    Csesar  died  (March  loth). 
43.    Cassius  in  Syria.    Death  of  Antipater. 
42.    Antigonus,  son  of  Aristohulus,  endeavours  to  obtain  the 

rule  over  Palestine.     Hattle  at  Philippi.  Antonius 

becomes  ruler  over  Asia  ;  Phasael  and  Herod  made  by 

him  tetrarchs  of  Judaea. 
40. '  The  Parthians   invade   Palestine.     Death  of  Phasael. 

Hyrcanus  taken  prisoner  by  the  Parthians. 
40 — 37.    Antigonus,  made  by  the  Parthians  king  of  Palestine. 
40.    Herod,  in  Rome,  appointed  king. 
39.    Herod  returns  to  Palestine  to  fight  with  Antigonus. 
37.    Herod  takes  possession  of  Jerusalem. 
37 — 4.    Herod  the  Great,  actual  king  of  Palestine. 
37.    Herod  marries  Mariamne,  the  granddaughter  of  Hyrcanus. 

Antigonus  put  to  death. 
36.    Hyrcanus  returns  from  the  Parthians  to  Jerusalem. 
35.    Aristohulus  III.,  the  High  Priest,  brother  of  Mariamne, 

killed  by  Herod. 
34.    Joseph,  Herod's  uncle,  killed  by  him.    Cleopatra  obtains 

the  greater  part  of  Phenicia  and  the  district  of  Jericho 

from  Antony.    Cleopatra  in  Jerusalem. 
32 — 31.    War  between  the  Arabians  and  Jews. 


Xii  APPENDIX. 
B.C. 

31.  Battle  at  Actium.  Octavianus  Augustus  becomes  emperor. 
30.    Hyrcanus  II.  put  to  death. 

30.  Herod  is  installed  as  king  of  Palestine  by  Augustus,  in 
Rhodes.  Later  on  he  receives  back  Jericho,  with  the 
addition  of  Gadara,  Hippos,  Samaria,  Gaza,  Anthedon, 
Joppa,  and  Strato's  Tower  (Csesarea). 

29.  Death  of  Mariamne,  and  of  her  mother,  Alexandra,  soon 
afterwards. 

25.  Death  of  Costobarus  and  the  sons  of  Babas.  The  newly- 
built  city  of  Samaria  is  called  Sebaste.  Famine. 

24.  Herod  marries  the  second  Mariamne.  He  obtains  from 
Augustus  the  territories  of  Trachonitis,  Bataneea,  and 
Auranitis,  to  complete  his  kingdom. 

20.  Herod  receives  from  Augustus  the  Syrian  province  as  a 
present.  Commencement  of  the  building  of  the  Temple 
in  Jerusalem. 

15.    Agrippa,  son-in-law  of  Octavianus  Augustus,  in  Jerusalem. 
10.    Csesarea  (Strato's  Tower)  inaugurated. 
7.    Death  of  Alexander  and  Aristobulus,  sons  of  Herod  and 
the  first  Mariamne. 

5.  Pheroras,  Herod's  brother,  died. 

4.    Rebellion.  Christ  born.  Death  of  Antipater ;  and,  five  days 

later,  of  Herod. 
4 — A.D.  6.    Archelaus,  ethnarch  over  Judaea,  Samaria,  and 

Idumea ;  after  his  banishment,  these  provinces  governed 

by  Roman  procurators  till  a.d,  41,  when  they  are  added 

to  the  kingdom  of  Agrippa  I. 
4— A.D.  34.    Philip,  tetrarch  of  Batansea,   Trachonitis,  and 

Auranitis  ;  at  his  death  these  territories  are  annexed  to 

the  Roman  province  of  Syria,  until  they  too  are  placed 

under  Agrippa  I. 
4 — A.D.  39.    Herod  Antipas,  tetrarch  of  Galilee  and  Peroea  ; 

after  his  banishment,  Agrippa  obtains  these  provinces 

also. 

A.D. 

6.  Archelaus  banished  to  Vienna  in  Gallia  ;  his  dominions  an- 

nexed to  Syria,  a,nd  governed  by  procurators . 


CHRONOLOGICAL  TABLE.  xiii 

A.D. 

6 — 9  (about).    Coponius,  first  procurator. 

9—12  (about).    Marcus  Ambivius,  second  procurator. 
12 — 15  (about).    Annius  Rufus,  third  procurator. 
14.    Death  of  Octavius  Augustus. 

14 —  37.    Tiberius,  Roman  emperor.. 

15 —  26.    Valerius  Gratus,  fourth  procurator. 
26 — 36.    Pontius  Pilate,  fifth  procurator. 
34.    Death  of  Herod  Philip. 

34—37.  The  former  tetrarcliy  of  Philip  under  direct  Roman 
Government. 

36—  37.    iMarcellus,  sixth  procurator. 

37 —  41.    Marullus,  seventh  procurator. 
37 — 41.    Caligula,  Roman  emperor. 

37.  Agrippa  I.  (son  of  the  Aristobulus  who  had  been  killed 
B.C.  7)  obtains  from  Caligula  [the  former  tetrarchy  of 
Philip  with  the  title  of  king. 

39.  Herod  Antipas  banished  to  Lugdunum  in  Gallia.  Agrippa  I. 
obtains  his  tetrarchy  likewise  from  Caligula. 

41 — 54.    Claudius,  Roman  emperor. 

41.  Agrippa  I.  receives  from  Claudius  the  territory  formerly 
under  Archelaus ;  and  also  Abila  on  Lebanon  ;  so  that 
from  A.D,  41  to  44  all  the  former  dominions  of  Herod 
the  Great  are  again  united  under  his  rule. 

41 — 48.    Herod  (brother  of  Agrippa  I.)  ruler  of  Chalcis. 

44.  Death  of  Agrippa  I.  His  whole  territory  is  again  ruled 
by  Roman  procurators  under  the  governor  of  Syria. 

44 — 46.    Rule  of  the  Roman  procurators. 

44.  Insurrectionar}"  movements  break  out  ;  probably  that  of 
Theudas. 

50 — 100.  Agrippa  II.  (son  of  Agrippa  I. ),  receives  Chalcis,  and 
later  on  the  tetrarchy  of  Philip,  Abila,  and  a  few  dis- 
tricts in  Galilee  and  Persea. 

52—60.  Felix,  procurator  (husband  of  Drusilla).  Paul  taken 
prisoner.    Disorder  and  rebellion  increase. 

54 — 68.    Nero,  Roman  emperor. 

60 — 62.  Porcius  Festus,  procurator.  Paul,  as  a  Roman  citizen, 
sent  to  Rome. 


Xiv  APPENDIX. 
A.D. 

62.    James,  the  Lord's  brother,  put  to  death, 

64.    Great  fire  in  Rome. 

64 — 66.    Gessius  Florus,  the  last  procurator. 

66 — 73.    The  great  war  of  the  Jews  against  Eome. 

68 —  69.    Galba,  Otho,  and  Vitellius,  Roman  emperors. 

69 —  79.    Vespasian,  Roman  emperor. 

70.  Titus  receives  the  command  in  Palestine.  Destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  The  Temple  set  on  fire,  on  the  tenth  of  the 
month  Ah. 

73.    The  temple  of  Onias  at  Leontopolis  closed. 
98 — 117.    Trajan,  Roman  emperor. 

115—117.  Rebellion  of  the  Jews  against  Trajan  in  Gyrene, 
Egj'pt,  Cyprus  and  Mesopotamia  ;  but  probably  not  in 
Palestine. 

117 — 138.    Hadrian,  Roman  emperor. 

132 — 135.    Rebellion  of  the  Jews  against  Hadrian  in  Palestine. 

Jerusalem  is  made  a  heathen  city,  with  the  name 
^lia  Capitolina.    The  Jews  are  forbidden  to  enter  it. 

Under  Antonius  Pius  (A.D.  188—161)  ch'cumcision. 
is  again  permitted  among  the  J ews  ;  and  in  the  fourth 
century  they  are  again  allowed  to  enter  Jerusalem. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Abia,  course  of    8 

Actium,  battle  of   11 

Adiabene,  Jews  in                                                       ..  164 

iEscuIanus     21 

Age  of  Our  Lord   9 

Agni...    18 

Agrippa  I   ...         85,  86 

Agrippa  II.   .'.  86 

Ahriman    ...       ...       ..        ...       ...       ...       ...       ...  18 

Alexander  the  Great   10,  68,  168 

Alexander  Jann?eus    69 

Alexander,  son  of  Herod  the  Great    77 

Alexander,  son  of  Aristobulus  II.      ...       ...       ...       ...  70 

Alexandra     70 

Alexandra,  mother-in-law  of  Herod  the  Great    72 

Alexandria,  Jews  in       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...  169 

 museum  and  library  in    169 

 commerce  of     169 

Amphitheatre  at  Kome                                                ...  46 

 near  Jerusalem    ...       ...       ...       ...       ...  74 

Ananeel,  the  High  Priest    72 

Ananias,  the  High  Priest    97 

Anna,  the  prophetess     ...    159 

Annas,  the  High  Priest   96 

Annius  Eufus,  procurator    80 

Antigonus,  son  of  Aristobulus  II   70,  71 

Antioch,  Jews  in,  and  flourishing  synagogues    166 

Antiochus  the  Great    68 


xvi  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Antioclius  Epiplianes    68 

Antipater,  father  of  Herod  the  Great   70 

Antipater,  son  of  Herod  the  Great    77,  78 

Antonius,  Marcus    71,  73 

Antonius  Felix,  procurator    86 

Antonius  Pius      ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...  90 

Apion,  enemy  of  the  Jews       ..    184 

Apocalyptic  Books   149,  151 

Apocrj-pha    99,  150 

Apollo      20 

Arabia,  Jews  in  164 

Aramaic  dialect    ...     '   53 

Archelaus   79,  80 

Aretas,  king  of  Arabia   84,  85 

Aristobulus     I.  ...      *   69 

Aristobulus  II   70 

Aristobulus  III. ,  the  High  Priest    72 

Aristobulus,  son  of  Herod  the  Great   77 

Art,  degradation  of,  by  the  Gentiles   36 

Artizan  Life  in  Jerusalem    59 

Ascension  of  Moses,  book  of   154 

Aschera   19 

Asia,  Jews  in  166 

Asmoneans   69 

Assj^ria,  Jews  in  164 

Astarte    19 

Augustus,  Emperor    10,  73 

Auranitis,  province  of    67,  82,  83 

Baal                                                                       ...  19 

Babas   73 

Babylon,  Jews  in     164 

Babylonians,  religion  of                                                 ..  19 

Banquets,  Roman   36 

Bar-cochba  ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       .         ...  89 

Baruch        156 


INDEX. 


xvii 


PAGE 

Batan.Ta    67,  82,  83 

Bethany    59 

Bethlehem     59- 

Bethphage     59 

Brahma    18 

'*  Bread  and  Play  "    45 

Caesar,  Julius,  murder  of   71 

 favours  Antipater    70 

Csesarea     ...   ^   ...       ,:   74 

Csesarea  Philippi   82 


Caiaphas,  the  High  Priest    98 

Candace,  Queen,  her  Treasurer  a  proselyte   168 

Canon,  division  of  Jewish    98,  99 

Casuistry  of  the  Scribes   105 

Census  under  Cyrenius  (see  Note  8)  6,  81 

Cestius  Gallus    87 

Children,  treatment  of,  among  the  Gentiles   36,  37 

— ^  martyrdom  of,  in  Bethlehem   77 

Christ,  the  Historic    4 

Chronology   5 

Circus,  Roman,  games  in    46 

Circumcision  allowed  on  Sabbath      106 

Clients,  Roman   41 

Colonies,  Roman   13,  15 

Commerce  in  Roman  Empire   15 

Confession  of  faith,  Jewish   108 

Constantino    90 

Coponius    80 

Costobarus   73 

Council  in  Alexandria   170 

Cyprus,  Jewish  rebellion  in      . .      89 

Cyrene,  ditto    89 

Cyrene,  Jews  in  167 

Cyrenius  (or  Quirinus)   6,  81 


xviii 


INDEX. 


Damascus,  synagogues  in 

Daniel,  Book  of  

Date  of  the  birth  of  Christ 

Dionysius  Exiguus   

Dispersion,  Je-svish 

Domestic  Life  among  the  Gentiles 


PAGE 
...  165 

149,  150 


163 
33 


Education  of  the  young  in  Palestine   124 — 126,  172 

Egypt,  Jews  in   169 

Emmaus    ..  59 

Emperors,  Eoman,  deification  of    22,  23 

Empire,  Roman   11 

Enoch,  Book  of   152 

Epicureanism       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ..  27 

Essenes,  origin  of  140 

 doctrines  of   141 

 localities  of   142 

 manner  of  life  of    143,  144 

Ethnarch,  Jewish,  in  Alexandria    170 

Expectation  of  a  deliverer  from  the  east    31 

Ezra,  fourth  book  of   156 

Family  Life,  Gentile   •    33 

Fasting    109 

Felix,  Antonius,  procurator     86 

Festus,  Porcius,  procurator                                  ...        ..  86 

Festivals,  Jewish,  journeyings  of  the  people  to     ...       ...  60 

Fides      21 

Freedmen     40 

Galilee,  Upper,  physical  formation  of   64 

 Lower,  ditto    64,  65 

 government  of     ...  ...       ...       ...       ...  65 

 population  of    65 

Galileans,  character  of   65,  66 

Gamaliel,  the  Scribe    104,  105 


INDEX. 


xix 


PAGE 

Games,  Roman    46 

Gaulonitis   67,  82,  83 

Gemara,  the   103 

Geography  of  Palestine   49 

Gerizim,  temple  at         ..        ...    62 

Gessius  Florus,  procurator   87 

Greece,  Jews  in  167 

Greek  language   13,  14 

Hadrian    89 

Haggada,  the    102 

Halacha,  the   102 

Hall  of  Squares   93 

Haplitarah,  the   122 

Heathendom  in  Our  Lord's  time    10 

Heathenism,  defects  of   28 

Hehrew  language   53 

Hellenism   174,  175 

Here]   20 

Herod  Agrippa  I.    85,  86 

Herod  Agrippa  II.    ,.  86 

Herod  Antipas    .  ..        ...       ..  83—85 

Herod  the  Great   71—79 

 '  his  crimes    72,  73,  77 

 favoured  by  Octavius    74 

 architectural  works  of    74 

 conspiracies  against   76 

 death  of    78 

 character  of    ...       ...    78,79 

 testament  of   79 

Herod  Philip,  the  tetrarch      82 

Herod  Philip   ...  84 

Herodians,  the     ..."    84,  135 

Herodias     ...   „    84 

High  Council  (see  Sanhedrin) 


XX  INDEX. 

PAGE 

High  Priest,  functions  of   95 

Hillel,  the  Scribe  103 

Hyrcanus,  John   69 

Hyrcanus  11.      70 

Idumea,  conquered  by  Jews   69 

Idumean,  Antipater,  the   ..  70,71 

Indra    18 

Italy,  Jews  in      ..   167 

Iturea    ...  67,82,83 

Izates,  king,  a  proselyte-     ...  164 

James  the  elder,  death  of    86 

Jason  of  Cyrene  168 

Jericho      59 

Jerusalem,  situation  of     56 

 splendid  buildings  in    57,  58 

 aspects  of  streets  in    59 

 siege  and  destruction  of      88 

Jewish  history    68—90 

Jewish  people,  mixed  character  of    53 

Jews  in  the  dispersion      163 

John  Hyrcanus    69 

John  of  Giscala   88 

John  the  Baptist  8,  84 

Jonathan,  Targum  of   153 

Joseph  Caiaphas,  the  High  Priest    96 

Josephus,  silence  of,  about  the  Messiah  (see  Note  6)  155 

Jubilees,  Book  of   103,  154 

Judaism  in  the  time  of  Jesus   49 

Judas  Maccabeus     69 

Judaea,  province  of    56 

Juno..        ...       '..   21 

Jupiter  Capitolinus    22 

Jurisdiction,  Jewish,  in  Palestin    95 

Jurisdiction,  Jewish,  in  Alexandria   170 


INDEX. 


xxi 


PAGE 

Labour,  estimation  of,  by  Jews    60 

Land  and  people  of  Israel,  the   49 

Language,  Greek   13,  14 

  Latin      13 

  spoken  in  Palestine   53,  122 

Law  of  Moses,  the    98 

Law,  Roman    13 

Leontopolis,  temple  in  170 

Lessons  in  the  Synagogue   122 

Libertines     167 

Life,  domestic,  in  the  Roman  Empire   33 

Literature,  Jewish,  in  the  dispersion  174 

 heathen    36 

Logos,  The   179 

Luxury,  heathen  ...       ..        ...       ...       ...       ...       ...  43 

Maccabees,  the    69 

Machserus,  fortress  of    67,  84 

Magi,  the   6 

Mars    22 

Marcellus,  the  procurator    80 

Marcus  Ambivius,  procurator   ...       ...       ...       ...       ...  80 

Mariamne     72,  73 

Marullus,  procurator    80 

Mattathias  Maccabeus   69 

Media,  Jews  in    164 

Messiah,  prophecies  of,  in  Old  Testament    148 

 apocalyptic  books         ...  149,151 

 Philo's  doctrine  of  the    180 

 Christ  the  true    162 

Messianic  hope,  the    147 

Mesopotamia,  Jews  in    164 

Mesusa,  the         ...    108 

Middle  class  among  the  Gentiles    41 

Midrashim   103 

Mishna,  the    102 


P 


xxii  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Moloch    19 

Morals  among  the  Gentiles    32 

Mount  of  Olives   58 

Mylitta    19 

Name  of  God,  not  to  be  spoken    107 

Nearda,  Je^ys  in    ....    164 

Nero,  emperor    87 

 superstition  of    23,  25 

 cruelty  to  the  Jews  in  Damascus   165 

 his  golden  palace    43 

Nisibis,  Jews  in   164 

Nubia,  Jews  in    168 

Onias,  temple  of   170 

Onkelos,  targum  of        ...    153 

Ormuzd    18 

Pallas  Athene    20 

Palestine,  boundaries    49 

 physical  formation  of   49—51 

 situation  of    51 

 inhabitants  and  language    53 

■ —  divisions  of    55 

 population    51,  53 

Parties  among  the  Jews  128 

"  Patet  exitus "   30 

Paul,  the  Apostle   97,  123 

Peasantry,  Roman    41 

Persea,  and  districts  east  of  the  Jordan    66,  67 

Phanias,  the  High  Priest    97 

Pharisees,  origin  of    129,  130 

 their  exposition  and  practice  of  the  Law  ...      130,  131 

 doctrines  of  the     132 

 influence  of   133 

Phasael,  brother  of  Herod  the  Great   71 


INDEX. 


xxiii 


PAGE 

PhUip,  Herod,  the  tetrarch    82 

Philip,  husband  of  Herodias    84 

Philo,  doctrines  and  views  of  177 

Philosophers,  heathen,  doctrines  of    27 

Pliilosophy  among  the  Hellenistic  Jews    175 

Phylacteries   108 

Pilate,  Pontius    81 

Plays,  Roman    36,  45 

Politics  of  Palestine    68 

Pompeii    44 

Pompey,  conquest  of  Jerusalem  by    70 

Porcius  Festus,  the  procurator   86 

Prsetorium   58 

Prayers,  heathen   29 

Prayer,  places  for,  by  river-sides    120,  172 

Prayers,  Jewish  108 

Priesthood,  Jewish   116 

Procurators   80,  86 

Proselytes   185 

 baptism  of     186 

Psalter  of  Solomon      ..152 

Ptolemies,  rule  of,  over  Palestine       . .        . .       . .        ...  68 

Ptolemy  yi.  (Philometor)        ...   170 

Purifications,  Jewish    107 

Pythagoreanism  l4l 


Quirinus  (or  Cyrenius)    ,.        ..        ..   6,81 

Rabbis      100,  101 

Rebellion  of  the  Jews  against  Rome   87 

Religions  of  the  East    18,  19 

Religion  in  Greece         ..    20 

 in  Rome   21 

—  among  the  Jews    112 — 128 

Roman  empire,  extent  of    11 


xxiv  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Roman  games    46 

 plays    36,  45 

■■  houses    44 

 law    13 

 roads    12 

Home,  city  of    14 

 its  population  and  commerce   ,   15 

 supreme  authority  of    13 

 Jews  in    167 

Sabbatarianism  of  the  Scribes   106 

Sabbath,  law  of  the    106,  107 

Sadducees,  origin  of   136 

— — —  doctrines  of   137,  138 

 character  of  139 

Samaria,  province  of      62 

Samaritans,  descent  of     62 

 character  and  religion  of   63 

Sanhedrin,  origin  of  the   ...  91,92 

 constitution  of    92,  93 

 place  of  meeting    93,  94 

 jurisdiction  of    94 

 trial  of  a  prisoner  by  the   95 

Schools,  Jemsh    ..  125 

Scepticism   27 

Scribes,  honours  of   100 

 occupations  of   101 

 their  exegesis  of  Scripture    102 

Scripture  exposition  in  Synagogue  122 

 reading  lessons    122 

Seleucids,  Jews  under      165 

Seleucus,  Philopator      68 

Septuagint  174 

Ser\aces  in  Temple    117—119 

Shammai,  the  Rabbi      104 

Sibylline  Verses   149,151 


INDEX. 


XXV 


PAGE 

Simon  Maccabeus   69 

Siva    18 

Slavery  in  Roman  Empire    38—40 

Spain,  Jews  in   167 

Spectacular  plays     36, 45 

Star  of  Bethlehem    6 

Stoicism    27 

Synagogue,  objects  of    ...       .„    120 

 in  Jerusalem    120 

 interior  arrangements  of   121 

 management  of    121 

 services  in   122 

Syria,  Jews  in   165 

Talmud     102 

'  Taxing,'  the,  or  Census   6,  81 

Temple,  description  of   113,  114 

 rebuilt   75,  112— 114 

 revenues  of    60,  128,  164 

 services  in   117 

 situation  of    112 

 Jewish,  in  Egypt   170 

TephiUin   108 

Terminus   21 

Theatre,  Roman   ...    45 

Therapeutse    141,  142,  181 

Tithes   107 

Titus,  Roman  General   88 

Toleration  in  the  Empire    24 

Trachonitis   67,  82,  83 

Trade  Associations,  Jewish    60 

Trajan    89 

Union  of  Peoples   10 

Valerius  Gratus   80 


XXvi  INDEX. 

PAGE 

Vespasian   23,  87,  88 

Vesta    ...  21 

Via  Maris    64 

Victoria    22 

Vishnu    18 

Voluptuousness,  Roman   44 

Vritra    18 

Worship,  heathen  ...    17 

 in  Palestine    117,  121 

 Jewish,  in  the  Dispersion    172 

Xystus    57 

Yemen       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...       ...  164 

Youth,  Jewish  education  of    124—126,  172 

Zacharias   8,  158 

Zadok   136 

Zealots    81,  134 

Zeus    20 

Zizith   108 


Princeton  Theolo 


iH  III  liiii  ill  li  III  II  iiii  iiiiiii[f  ^ 


1  1012  01220  1184 


DATE  DUE 


* 


V 


